Bounty Hunted
by TheDemonicPrissyPrincess
Summary: In the age of wielding revolvers and conducting trade in taverns, there is a league of killers who hunt violent criminals on horse-back and put them behind bars. Except, what would happen if the Bounty Hunters become the hunted? AU - Rated M for adult language, themes, and LEMON. TO BE EDITED SOON.
1. Chapter 01  Just the Usual

Chapter 01 - Just the Usual

The fire matched her hair. Bright red strands pulled back into a ponytail and her bangs rested against her petite face. To him, she is the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on. She kept her deep ruby eyes on the crackling fire in front of her. It was keeping her warm tonight. Well, she lifted her orbs slightly from the blaze. It was keeping him warm too. He noticed her looking and their eyes connect.

Bashful, she quickly turned her head away, an exploding red color developed over her nose. He caught her gazing at him multiple times in the past so it was not strange, although it did make him smile that she liked looking at him. The small woman shifted in her seat, pretending to be interested in fixing the tarp under her. Oh, why did she have to keep staring at him? It's becoming a habit and a bad habit it was.

Suddenly, the muscular man stood up from his side of the fire. He walked over the tarp and sat next to her. She kept her eyes averted to the side, avoiding his navy eyes. A warm hand reaches out and touches her soft cheek, his fingertips lightly dance under her long bangs and move across her white smooth skin. An admirable female with a slightly narcissistic attitude, it amazed him how soft and smooth her pale unstained skin was. He wondered if her skin is soft and smooth in other places of her body. It's about time he found out. Bringing his other hand and encircling her waist, the man pulled the petite woman over her lap.

She kept avoiding his eyes until finally, she slowly looks up at his handsome face. There was a gentle smile on his face. So gentle, her blush was disappearing now. There was no need for words. Silence overcame them but something else was erupting from somewhere deep within. Something that words could not take credit for. It was unexplainable. But, oh, he is going to find out soon. Copying his movements, the small woman leaned upward. Her grip on his shirt tighten when she felt his warm breath touching her cheek, he was so close. His lips were so close to touching hers. Her entire body was jittery and fluttering with intense anticipation. Could this be… yes, it could be. It could be-

"I'm back." The third and last comrade in their group sighed when he entered the camp. He raised his eyebrow to see his two friends so close to each other. No, in fact, his eyebrow got higher to see the woman known for her bloodthirsty behavior sitting on the man's lap with his arms wrapped tight around her waist. In addition, his eyebrow bounced off his forehead, the man obviously did not hear him since his hand was sliding under her blouse. Her mouth hung open, an emotion of embarrassment and humiliation exploded on her face.

"Lina-"

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN!" Lina Inverse bellowed into Gourry Gabriev's ear, making him withdraw from her instantly and rub his hurting eardrums. She grabbed her double-action, triple barrel revolver from its holster on her right hip and pointed it between his eyes. It took him half a second to realize how much danger he was currently in.

The overwhelming red color over her entire face was even brighter than the fire next to them and she cocked the gun loaded. Thus began shooting practice. A loud screech escaped from Lina's lips as she fired at Gourry, threatening him that she is going to kill him for putting his hands on her body. She finally shot the center of his back. He fell forward into the dirt and whined from the extremely painful bruise he 'deserved'. Lina snorted loudly and opened her bullet chamber.

"Serves you right." She dumped the empty rounds to the ground and reloaded it with fresh casings. Turning her eyes to the mood-killer, she glared at the man in the beige coat.

"If you didn't have that body armor, Gourry, you would've been dead within the first week you met Lina." Zelgadiss Greywards said with a smirk, he grabbed the extra pieces of dry wood he found in the forest and fed it to their weak fire. Gourry lifted himself off the ground and crawled toward the fire, a display of pain and discomfort expressed on his face as he dumped himself next to the fire.

"Nice timing, Zel." He chuckled wearily. Lina turned her angry blazing eyes at him and with a loud snarl, making him jump. "I-I mean, it's not like we were doing anything." The woman nodded with a snort and shoved her revolver back into her gun holster.

"Not doing anything? You guys were doing something!" A man announced from a tree nearby. "And I loved every minute of it!"

"S-SHUT UP!" Her blush returned. Lina completely forgot about him! Tied around a large tree trunk by ropes, the greasy man let out a loud whopping call and licked his thin lips sexually.

"I don't mind watching the continuation later." As the man continued to laugh, Lina stood up from her seat. Gourry and Zelgadiss watched the impulsive woman grab the weapon that was strapped against the side of her right calf.

"What are you doing?" Zelgadiss questioned when she stomped past the fire. He yelped when Lina loaded her weapon with a single bullet that was the size of her hand. He was about to stop her until Gourry grabbed him before lunging at the woman. Placing a hand over Zelgadiss's mouth to prevent him from talking, he sighed.

"Stopping her will only cause our untimely deaths." He said with such grief. Zelgadiss joined his sighing. True, he valued his life and it would be quite unsatisfying to be at the end of that chamber. Instead of saving the poor idiot, they turned away and hid behind a large tree that can withstand the blast.

"I'm getting a boner just thinking about it again-" The man with the cowboy hat stopped instantly when he heard a loud familiar sound that resembled a gun getting ready to shoot. Multiple droplets of sweat dripped from his forehead to see the end of a gun barrel pointed at the tip of his nose. The barrel was the size of his face and longer than arm's length. Lina held the over-sized canon-like pistol by its handle. A cloud of anger, not humiliation, floated over her fuming expression. Her dark flaming eyes glint with the overwhelming evilness that her tiny body held.

"You're not getting a boner where you're going." She whispered coldly. The man's pupil shriveled from her statement and opened his mouth to apologize but it was too late. She had already pulled the trigger. The explosion that escaped from the bazooka handgun was great. Once the round hit its target, it engulfs whatever it hits with a big comet-like explosion that spanned a good 15-mile radius. Dropping the smoking gun to her side, Lina stared at the destroyed forest in front of her and smirked. She walked over to the dead corpse sprawled out in the middle of the obliterated patch of woods and stood over him.

"Happy afterlife, pal." Lina lifted her still-smoking canon gun close to her lips and blew the hot smoke away. The Dragon Slave, her creation of a mini-canon but with a greater disaster like a bomb. It is a true weapon of mass destruction. She cursed when the pistol suddenly fell apart into broken pieces in her hand.

"Damn, iron and gold wasn't it." Although she created the best blast concoction, she was unable to find the right material that was stable and strong enough to withstand the detonation that came out of the barrel. It was still a prototype but when she finds the right metals, it will be perfect. She turned around when she heard a loud sigh behind her. Zelgadiss and Gourry walked over with their eyes on the dead man.

"Great. You killed him. You killed our 250,000 cash reward." Zelgadiss said with a hint of anger. Lina drew a big sweat droplet behind her head and chuckled nervously.

"Oh, that's right." She forgot that the man was to be turned in alive. Not dead. "But-But we can still get some of the reward!" Lina took out the wanted poster with the once-alive man's face on it. She pointed at the statement below the photo. "See? Wanted, dead or alive!"

"But our client was with his wife, Lina." Gourry knelt next to the corpse and began poking him with a stick. "I don't think she would want to have a dead guy for a husband."

"Not to mention, she was offering MORE than the reward itself. Triple, in fact." Her companion reminded. Lina chuckled nervously again.

"I guess I over reacted-"

"Over reacted nothing. You OVER KILLED him." Gourry told her. She sweat dropped as Zelgadiss's angry grey eyes glowed greater; she quickly tried to change the mood.

"Look, we can still get money out of him. You can still turn him in and get the money on the wanted poster." Lina smiled innocently, twinkling stars appeared around her glowing face. "And if you like, you can just tell his wife that you found him dead and hopefully, she'll give us the money anyways-"

"First of all," The angry man in the beige trench coat slammed his gloved fist into the top of Lina's head with a pulsing angry vein on his cheek. "I'm not delivering a dead man. You killed him, you do it." The redhead bent over to her feet as she held her throbbing head. "And lastly, Filia is going to be very disappointed in you for destroying part of the forest. AGAIN."

"Ahhhhh…" Gourry scanned the burnt forest area around them and nodded. "Yeah, she's going to be mad. Again."

"O-Oh, come on!" Lina stood up quickly with a pout. "She doesn't need to know about this-"

"Filia is going to know when she sees the corpse. It's not like this is the first time you killed someone." Lina watched Zelgadiss crouch next to the dead man and untie the black sash around his waist. "You're delivering a dead man to a person who already knows the power of your atrocious doomsday weapon. And hopefully, Filia will get rid of you."

"Filia can't fire me. I am a founder of this bounty hunting business too. The best she can do is not giving me my slice of the reward. In which, she won't because I'll kill her." The redhead said with an arrogant smile, her comrade just rolled his eyes.

"And besides, Filia loves me." Lina smirked when Zelgadiss snorted at her loudly when she used the word 'love'. Pulling off his beige long coat, he laid it over the corpse and pulled his black bandanna over his nose and mouth. He covered the dead man with his coat and tied it tight with the use of his sash. Lina bent her body forward and positioned her mouth behind his ear.

"By the way, did you tell your little crush that you love her yet?" When he did not say anything back, Lina's grin got bigger. "You know, I was talking to her about you the other day. Want to know what she said about you?" After a few more seconds of anticipating silence, Zelgadiss let out a heavy sigh and continued to cover the dead body with his coat.

"What did she say?" He asked softly so Gourry would not hear but he already knew whom they were talking about and just smiled at his response.

"Why don't you ask her yourself when you deliver the dead guy to Filia?" Lina patted his shoulder and stood up quickly. Lina Inverse, an Expert Gun Slinger and Dagger Specialist Bounty Huntress. She considers herself (and she is probably right) the best gun shooter in the land and the most beautiful with a dagger. Using special and out-of-the-ordinary materials to create weapons of mass destruction, she is the brilliant and beautiful knife-throwing nightmare that all wanted criminals knew as 'The Bandit Killer'. Infamous for her dedication in putting criminals behind bars and also, as witnessed earlier, killing them into burnt crisp toast. She truly is a killer of bandits. Many imitated but they were never able to duplicate. And to make it worse, she was always surrounded with people who are almost as talented, possibly equally talented, as she is. Zelgadiss opened his mouth to contest but Lina and Gourry were already walking away.

"Thanks, Zel!" Gourry grinned. Always next to her side, Gourry Gabriev was her most trusted partner in crime. This dumb swordsman was believed to be the strongest man wielding a sharp edge weapon and it was probably true. Able to dodge, reflect, and slice rounds into tiny pieces, it was understandable that women were attracted to him. And not only did he have an extraordinary talent when it comes to anything that has a sharp point, he was incredibly handsome and with a very gallant charisma. A true knight who still believed in chivalric duties, it was bizarre that such a noble person would pursue such an egotistic character like the Bandit Killer. But that was Gourry. He never saw the worse in anybody, only the good. And it was that trait of his that made him an easy target. Combine a merciless killing machine, Lina, and the gentlest person on the planet, Gourry, the balanced pair was unstoppable. But that wasn't enough. A sweat drop dangled from the side of his head, Zelgadiss hung his head and sighed loudly. As he did this, a few silver strands of hair moved away from his covered right side of his face. Overlapping his right eye and high cheekbone, half his face was healing slowly from devastating third degree burns that he had obtained just three years back.

Zelgadiss Greywards was the third member of the infamous group of hunters. An expert with a sword and gun, he was a master of knowledge and lethal with anything that he got his hands on. Before working with Lina and Gourry, he was a mercenary by trade. He accepted any job too dangerous if the money was right and he was good at it. However, after doing a specific job, he was caught in a terrible explosion and abandoned by his comrades for dead. In result, his body became a magnet for the flames. With more than 2/3 of his body was charred and burnt into a crisp, he laid in agony for someone to find him for days. He could remember screaming in pain when rain fell upon his body. It was the first time he ever cried.

But she came. She was looking for flowers but found him instead. He spent a year bedridden, wishing and pleading for death but she never gave up on him. She fed him, cleaned his open wounds, rubbed his burn sores, and even sat up the entire night talking to him, knowing full-well that he rarely talked back. Speaking only with gentle kindness, she was able to see through the layers of harden exile that he had built over his lifetime and sculpt him into a slightly more approachable, pessimistic and non-humane man. It was still a change from being an isolated, silent, sinister ambiguity. It was because of her that Zelgadiss recovered with just scarring on only several parts of his body. She saved him and he knew that there was no way he could ever repay for her compassionate generosity.

They all worked under a young woman named Filia Ul Copt. A bounty huntress herself, she had given up her hunting days to open a business in the small growing town of Saillune. Her business, 'Pottery and Mace', sold the best pottery and iron maces in the town. Although it was just a cover-up, Filia enjoyed selling her works of art and sipping tea behind the counter. Behind the shop, she and her son worked with the hunters and managed the rising number of criminals in Saillune. Assigning the group with selective highly wanted fugitives or a collective bunch of one-shot criminals, Filia and her bounty hunters were viewed as heroes in town. But with only one group of highly skilled talent left under her wing, she was constantly interviewing for more hunters to create another.

"Hurry up, Zel!" Lina screamed from the top of her horse. "Let's get out of here before the savages come to investigate."

"Go without me." Zelgadiss always preferred to be alone.

"And leave my money bag with you? Fuck no." She stuck her tongue at him. Zelgadiss placed the dead man over his horse's back and ignored her loud complaints. "Why do you always run off alone? We are a TEAM."

"Yeah, Zel. There is no 'I' in 'TEAM'." Gourry mentioned with a smile.

"What Gourry said, there is no 'I' in 'TEAM'. If you always do things alone, you're going to get yourself into trouble one day and WE won't be there to help you."

"I don't need a lecture about my work behavior. Especially from you, Lina." He climbed on his horse and grabbed his reins. He trotted past Lina and Gourry.

"Besides," Zelgadiss glanced at Lina with a smirk. "You'd rather want me out of your way."

"What are you talking about?" Lina curled her eyebrows. She watched him chuckle away softly. The slightly confused woman stared at Zelgadiss until Gourry rode his horse past her. A returning large blush appeared on her face almost immediately. She punt the heels of her boots against her horse making it neigh, her black horse jogged past Zelgadiss.

"If you weren't useful, I would've murdered you with my Dragon Slave the moment I met you!"

* * *

They were away for only a few days but from chasing a wanted criminal for a week straight in the woods, they were glad to be back in the little town of Saillune. One of the earliest settlements, Saillune was still growing in size. Lina and Gourry rode their horses on the dusty and dirt trail that ran through the town; they raised their hands in the air when familiar faces greeted their return. Riding their horses to the only bar in town, they climbed off and tied the reins with the other parked horses in front of the tavern.

"I want my part in big bills, Zel, and tell Filia that I'm not paying for any debt I owe! Tell her I'll pay for housing later when I get my fill of drink!" Lina shouted as she walked up the small steps to the front doors of the bar. Zelgadiss replied with a sigh and continued riding his tan horse through the colonial town, practicing his lines for someone he will see very shortly. Gourry followed Lina into the tavern.

The entire place lit up. Regulars acknowledged them the moment they walked in and the newcomers looked up with big eyes. Women would not dare to step into a bar with all these greasy drunk men just waiting to grab them to their laps. But then again, Lina Inverse was the only woman in town who wore pants. She walked to the group of wolf calling drunken men and happily let them look at her tight and pants-wearing body. Some even tried to pull her to the back room but quickly got a fist into their gut, others laughed as the hurt men fell to the floors and hold their abdomen. Unlike other women, she was able to hold her own damn self amongst these men.

"Caught another one, Idiot?" A man behind the bar asked Gourry when he sat at the bar.

"Caught and dead." Gourry smiled when the bartender with wavy dark locks gave him a large mug, the alcoholic beverage falling at its rim. He placed it to his lips and took a good long refreshing drink. A sigh of relief escaped his lips right after and a soft blush already developed over his nose. The bartender quickly refilled his mug and returned to cleaning his glasses.

"Due to the Huntress's actions, I bet." Gourry turned around in his stool and watched Lina give the drunken men a show for their money. She pulled the trigger of her specially designed revolver and accurately shattered a shot glass clean-off a man's head, in which they cheered loudly and blew more wolf calls. "So, did you ask her? Or am I assuming nothing's changed?"

"I'm trying." Gourry sighed. Lina was now arm wrestling with a muscular man with bulging sweaty muscles. He took Lina's tiny-gloved hand and gripped his stubby sausage fingers around hers. She smirked and wrapped her fingers around his hand. The man's eyes suddenly bulged out of its eye sockets and he pulled away quickly, his hand waving everywhere in the air.

"You have a great grip there, Lina!"

"Don't underestimate a woman with 5 guns strapped to her body." Lina winked and laughed alongside of the other men. Gourry turned back around when she stood up from her chair; he continued to drink his beer and pretended he was not watching her the entire time.

"Hey, barkeep." Lina sat next to Gourry at the bar. "Where's my beer?"

"A young lady like you should be drinking tea and attending expensive parties. Not drinking beer, chasing wanted criminals, and wearing pants for goodness sake." The man shook his head with a sigh as he cleaned a mug with a rag. Lina pouted her lips out.

"Look, just give me a beer before I set off my Dragon Slave in here."

"And blow up the only bar in Saillune?" The dark-skinned man raised his eyebrow. Lina and the bartender stared at each other for a good silent 5 seconds. She let out a grumble and turned her head away from his stern serious eyes. Lina was presented with a cold glass of refreshing milk in a beer mug and she reluctantly took it.

"I liked you better when you were one of us, Zangulas." Lina glared at the bartender, a light white mustache had appeared over her upper lip. "Don't you miss your sword swinging days? You know, when you and three others would go out and fail a mission, than Gourry and I had to take over the hunt and save your skins from being killed? I missed those days. There was more money coming in." Zangulas just chuckled and leaned against the bar table.

"Serve the good men of Saillune with alcoholic drinks and have a good time or go back to chasing people for big money and possibly lose my life?" Zangulas sighed and grabbed his own glass of beer. "It's a hard decision but I value my life a little more than money unlike you guys." It was true, Zangulas used to be one of the hunters under Filia. He belonged to a separate group other than Lina and Gourry with a set of other highly talented people but after earning enough money from hunting wanted fugitives for five years of his life, he and his cohorts of two abandoned hunting and choose a more normal living for the rest of their lives.

"You forgot one more thing." Gourry smiled.

"How could I possibly forget?" Zangulas took a sip of his beer. "Challenging you to a daily duel and always losing? It was the best part of being a bounty hunter." He scoffed sarcastically and dumped the contents in his mug into the sink, obviously upset. Grumbling, Zangulas took his rag and angrily scrubbed down the bar table. This was also true. Zangulas had resentment for Gourry. They both had a chivalric persona and were equally famous with the ladies, but Zangulas could not stand that Gourry was just slightly better than him in sword fighting. Like the black knight in movies, Zangulas always initiated the challenge, only to end up the loser.

"Well, Zangy, I would've taught you how to play with guns-"

"Guns are for women." Zangulas snorted at Lina. Instantly, he froze when he felt the end of a barrel press against the back of his head.

"I guess that makes me a bitch." Zelgadiss stood behind him with his gun pressed into Zangulas's hair. Zangulas rolled his eyes and turned around, his nose barely touching the barrel. This scene was obviously quite familiar between the two. Zangulas raised his eyebrow at Zelgadiss while the burn victim kept a steady grip on the handle of the triple-barrel revolver.

"How about a duel? You can finally show me what you got with that piece of steel." Zangulas motioned to the sword attached to Zelgadiss's hip.

"I don't intend to waste my time with you." Zelgadiss shoved his gun into its holster. "And, unlike Gourry, I don't show mercy." He jumped over the bar and joined Lina and Gourry. Zangulas let out a soft chuckle and shook his head while Zelgadiss smirked. And as always, they end up just dropping the barter altogether.

"More work?" Lina sighed when Zelgadiss lifted a collection of wanted posters in her view. He dumped the posters on the table for Lina and Gourry to look over, they groaned loudly to see repeat offenders.

"I'm not looking for this guy again!" The redhead at the bar shouted loudly. "I spent a month looking for him in the woods!" She slapped the wanted poster with the back of her hand. "And how the hell did he escape prison AGAIN?"

"Someone keeps forgetting to lock the front door." Zelgadiss leaned against the edge of the bar table with his own mug of beer to his lips.

"Let me guess." Lina said softly with a cloud of darkness forming over her eyes.

"Amelia." She, Gourry, and Zangulas said simultaneously.

"Yes?" The three turned their heads to the door. Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune stood in the doorway of the tavern, an innocent expression on her face. She tilted her head to the side as the three persons stared at her and wondered whatever she did when they sighed loudly and looked away.

"Amelia-Chan!" Drunken older men rushed over to her and groveled at her steel-toed shoes, looking up at her with big blushes on their faces. "Amelia-Chan, you're so cute! Like an unguarded angel looking for trouble!"

"C-Cute?" Amelia blushed wildly. She covered her face with both her hands and waved her body to the side. "But I'm not cute at all!" She embarrassingly whined like a child. The men squealed from an overload of cuteness and grabbed at her slender naked legs, pleading for her to dance for them on the bar table. Amelia timidly tried to wiggle from their grip, only to make her loose dress dance in motion and gave the greedy men a preview of her white lace panties and her milky white smooth thighs.

"OFF." Zelgadiss was suddenly behind them and spoke in a very dangerous low growl. In each of his hand, a gun locked and loaded. The men obliged his commands and were soon sitting in their tables, drinking their lukewarm beer. He let out a loud snort and looked at Amelia with an angry expression. She just giggled nervously. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't come here if you want to get molested."

"B-But Lina-San comes here and nobody molests her." The little lady in the white loose dress pointed at Lina with oversize long sleeves.

"That's because everyone knows me here." Lina rolled her eyes to the men behind her and smirked. "And besides, they only prey on the young and innocent." They responded to her statement with wolf calls and laughter. Amelia and Gourry nodded suddenly, they looked at each other as if they were from the same planet and communicating mentally.

"That must mean…"

"It has too…" They said to each other softly. Lina drew her eyebrow up.

"Lina-San is not young and innocent enough." Amelia said loudly. Gourry patted his fist into his palm.

"She's too old and perverted to be considered a feast."

"DO YOU IDIOTS KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE?" Lina had Amelia and Gourry in a tight choke hold. They gasped for air as Lina grinded her fist against the top of their heads.

"B-But Lina-San said it herself. The men here only prey on the young and innocent." Amelia said the moment Lina unhanded them.

"I meant the inexperienced and immature." Lina snapped at her. The inexperience and immature young lady blinked a few times, she blankly looked at Lina than at Gourry. She smiled suddenly and grabbed Lina's hands into hers.

"You finally did it, Lina-San. You finally told him how you feel." Sighing with large hearts flying over her head, Amelia clasped her hands to her chest and sighed again as Lina watched her with confusion. "I bet it was a magical night filled with love. Usually, I don't approve sexual intercourse before marriage but you and Gourry-San were together for a very long time so it shouldn't matter-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT BY 'INEXPERIENCED', YOU CLOSET PERVERT!" The humiliated redhead smashed Amelia's large breasts together from behind, making her let out a high-pitch squeal with a large blush. Lina was quickly shoved off by Zelgadiss's foot; he had his arms protectively around Amelia as she cried from the rough actions done on her body. Zangulas stared at the four interesting characters in his tavern and sighed. Gourry was holding Lina with a stamped shoe print in the middle of her face by her wrists and prevented her from grabbing her gun while Zelgadiss kept the sobbing molested tiny woman back. They were still the same.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" As Gourry kept Lina from pulling the trigger at Zelgadiss, a customer walked into the tavern. He was obviously not from there, judging from his strange black foreign clothes. Sitting on an empty table close to the back but nearby so he can hear the ongoing conversation, the man in the black suit took off his top hat from his purple head of hair and placed it on the small round table. His slender black cane leaned against his knee as he unbuttoned his black suit jacket. He kept a gentle smile plastered on his face the entire time, his slit eyes were difficult to tell where and who he was looking at.

"What the hell are you doing here anyways, Amelia? Shouldn't you be at working, right now?" Lina changed the subject, hoping it would avert the topic from her. The tears from Amelia's eyes quickly evaporated, she left Zelgadiss's side and reached into the leather black pouch above her buttocks.

"Zelgadiss-San left before Filia-San could give him this last mission-"

"Because I told her looking for 7 random people for the week is an overload." Zelgadiss waved the 7 wanted posters in Amelia's faces.

"That's fine, she told me to give these to you next week." She swiped 4 out of 7 posters from his hand and replaced it with the one instead. Zelgadiss looked down at the enlarged drawing of a man's face, Lina and Gourry poked their heads around his shoulders.

"This guy is not wanted." Gourry pointed aloud.

"Just because his face is not on a wanted poster, does not mean he is one of the prime suspects of 8 kidnappings." Amelia replied. Gourry nodded at that logic.

"Kidnappings?" Lina questioned loudly. "Lina Inverse does not do kidnappers. She does murderers and highly wanted criminals. Give this back to the police-"

"This is from a private client, not law enforcement. And he is willing to give each person who participates a sum of 400,000."

"Why, this man is going to pay for kidnapping those poor innocent people! WHEN I FIND HIM, I'M GOING TO MAKE HIM SORRY FOR WHAT HE'S DONE!" Lina quickly changed her attitude, Gourry and Amelia cheered with her in the background.

"This is the first time we're dealing with someone outside of the police." Zelgadiss said as he folded the picture and shoved it into his pants pocket. "If I don't know any better, it looks like Filia is turning us into mercenaries." Amelia smiled with a soft giggle.

"Winter is coming along and business is getting quite slow. Filia-San is accepting any job that is thrown to us so don't be surprised if she takes a missing person's case next month." As Zelgadiss commented on Filia's work policy and regulations, Amelia grabbed her shoulder bag that was resting on her hip and took out a nicely folded beige material.

"Here, Zelgadiss-San." She presented it to him, Zelgadiss stopped talking. "I noticed you used your coat for covering up Uehara-San's body so I grabbed an extra clean coat for you to wear from your room." It was this kindness that he had trouble responding too. When he didn't do anything, Amelia took a step closer and pushed the coat against his chest. "You would be cold at night, Zelgadiss-San."

"Yeah." Zelgadiss snapped out of his gaze and grabbed the coat from her tiny hands. He turned his head away when she tried to look at his expression. It was a habit he had acquired upon receiving the burns on his face. He didn't take pleasure in people staring at him. In fact, he despised it greatly when they looked at his burns so he always kept it hidden behind his long silver bangs. Though, when it was Amelia who was looking at him, he felt more misery than displeasure. As Zelgadiss kept his face lowered, Amelia just smiled at his isolated behavior. She was already used to it.

"You better hurry back, Zelgadiss-San, or I'm going to have Filia-San teach me how to-"

"Not in your life." He quickly responded with a sudden glare, forgetting that he was looking away just a while ago. Merely teasing and only wanting to see him again, Amelia giggled at his sudden outburst. The one thing he hated above everything else was the idea of Amelia becoming a Bounty Hunter like him. Although she was teasing this time, Zelgadiss knew she was serious about becoming a Huntress. Sticking her tongue out playfully at his growling expression, Amelia turned her attention to Zangulas, whom she had forgotten to greet. She rushed over and joined Lina and Gourry at the bar, unsuccessfully pulling them away from their drinks and persuading them to return back to work. Zelgadiss watched her tug on Gourry's long gold hair and whine for him to work, the dumb fellow just continued to drink. Shaking the blush that was reappearing on his face again, he quickly unfolded the trench coat and wore it over his short-sleeved solid black shirt and beige pants. Trying it closed with a black sash, he called Lina and Gourry's attention.

"Back to work."

"That's the spirit, Zelgadiss-San!" Amelia cheered loudly.

"Are you serious? We just got back from a hunt! I'm tired." The redhead complained. Zelgadiss rolled his eyes and left the bar, getting the horses ready for departure.

"People are getting hurt out there, Lina-San! It's up to you, Gourry-San, and Zelgadiss-San to get rid of those bad men!" Amelia bounced on top of the bar table and stood in front of Gourry and Lina. Lina just raised her eyebrow. "Saillune is in dire need of help! Are you going to deny Saillune's plea for help and let these bad men take over this town or you going to do something about it?" She said it twinkling signs of 'justice' shining in her eyes. Lina glared at her.

"You know, ever since Filia appointed you as our advisor, you've been mistreating me, Amelia." Lina said loudly, Amelia blinked a few times.

"I have?"

"Yes." Suddenly, darkness spread across her face and Lina gave off an evil smile. "Do you know what I do to naughty girls like you?" Amelia gulped when Lina lifted her gloved hand in the air and clenched it into a fist.

"L-Lina-San…" She whimpered. Lina joined her on the bar table and slammed her burning fist into her own palm.

"It's punishment time." It only took Lina a few seconds to catch Amelia in the bar. Zelgadiss turned his head when he heard loud familiar squeals and cheering. Lina got a hold of Amelia again. Grumbling, he left his horse's side and stomped through the entrance of the tavern. He stopped the moment he walked in. Lina had Amelia lying on top of her lap, on her stomach with her dress pulled above her hips, showing off her white lace panties and rear.

"SHOW SOME DAMN RESPECT TOWARDS YOUR SUPERIORS!" Lina shouted as she spanked the squeaking girl with an open hand. Her rear end was getting slightly red from the punishment. Amelia screeched; her legs and arms waving wildly, droplets of tears rolled from her eyes.

"Please, no more! I said I'm sorry!" The men in the bar watched the adorable little lady get punished with their faces entirely red. Gourry and Zangulas even had blushes on their faces. Although, they had witnessed countless times Amelia being punished, it was not the sexual acts that she undergoes; it was her cute reactions that made them lose their control of their loins. "Please, Lina-San! It hurts Amelia-Chan's bottom! Please, no more!"

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Zelgadiss grabbed Amelia from Lina's lap and grinded his sharp knuckle into Lina's head, she let out a loud whine as he did so. The men in the bar groaned slightly when Zelgadiss pulled Amelia's dress down to her knees. Amelia buried her face against his chest and cried loudly, his arm wrapped securely around her body. "YOU PERVERTED SADIST!"

"Who's calling who a pervert? I see red on you!" Lina pointed at Zelgadiss's face. Out of everyone in the bar, he was the only one with a bloody nose and a cherry-like face.

"S-SHUT UP!" He gave her a hard karate chop into Lina's head. She fell backwards with dizzy spells for eyes. "AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" Zelgadiss snapped at the onlookers. Immediately, the background music continued to play its soft melodic tune and they all returned to their beer. He snorted with a nod and escorted the traumatized girl out the bar.

"Lina?" Once outside, Gourry knelt next to Lina's lain body and poked her cheek. She quickly opened her eyes. "It worked." He grinned.

"Good." Lina stood up from the hardwood floor and sat back into her seat. "Let's have one more drink, barkeep, and make it ALCOHOLIC. I have a feeling that we're going to be hunting for this next guy for a long time." Obviously a trick to create more time for one last drink, it had worked to their advantage.

"Next time, when you want to cause trouble in my bar," Zangulas looked up from rubbing his damp cloth over the dirty boot prints that Lina left on his bar table. "DON'T DO IT ON MY PROPERTY." He served them their drinks and continued to clean. Lina and Gourry hit their mugs together and smiled at one another.

"It's a good thing I know the guy's weakness." Lina snickered and chugged down her foamy beer. Slamming the empty mugs on the table, the two bounty hunters left their bar stools and joined Zelgadiss with their horses. The mystery man in the foreign outfit stood up from his seat and strolled over to the irritable bartender, he reached into his pocket as he did so.

"Excuse me." Zangulas looked up. The man held a gold metal police badge in the palm of his hand. "You look like you knew something about those four interesting people who just left."

"I know a little something." Zangulas turned around and grabbed his glass of drink.

"Would you like to share it with me?"

"I'm not the type of man who shares information." The bartender turned his body to face the man but stopped to see a long-barrel revolver with a large bullet chamber pointed straight at his face. Zangulas looked at the man; his eyes were shaped like rainbows and his smile gentle.

"Would you like to share it with me?" He asked again. Zangulas moved his eyes to the gun and back at the man's face. He sighed and drank the rest of his alcoholic drink.

"What do you want to know?"

"Just the usual." The man's eyes slightly open, showing Zangulas his amethyst eyes. "Their names and who they are working for."


	2. Chapter 02 Fearless Wolf

Chapter 02 - Fearless Wolf

Joe. That was the name of the man they were suppose to hunt. Gourry listened to Zelgadiss from across the campfire. He was filling him with the details while nearby, Lina was polishing her creation, a triple-barrel semi-automatic revolver made of platinum, over the fire. By the middle of the 'filling', Gourry already had an aching head.

"O-Overload." Gourry grabbed his brown hat from his head, hoping it will lighten the load. The pounding headache was still there.

"Idiot." Lina commented. He just chuckled with a slight blush, in which Lina and Zelgadiss rolled their eyes at. "Let me explain the muscle head this time." She shoved her handgun into its holster on her left hip and turned her body to Gourry.

"Look, Jellyfish-Brain." Lina grabbed a stick next to her foot and using the end of it, she drew a circle with an angry face inside of it. "That's Joe."

"Hi Joe!" Gourry waved his hand to the doodle.

"We're looking for Joe because he is suspected of kidnapping 8 women that we know of and are presumed dead." She continued. "The client, Halshifom, the scientist who lives outside of Saillune, asked us to bring him alive and his Lithium project back."

"Lithium?" Gourry repeated confuse-like.

"It's the name of Halshifom's experiment that Joe stole a few days ago." Zelgadiss said as he loaded his revolver.

"Basically, we need to retrieve Joe and stolen experiment?" Gourry recollected slowly.

"Good, Gourry." Lina sighed in relief when he finally got it.

"Where is Joe?"

"He lives in a mansion." She drew a square around 'Joe' and tapped at the square. "That's the mansion." Gourry nodded. The fiery princess then pointed to the side, he turned his head. They were sitting just a few yards from the front door of a large stone mansion. "And that's the mansion." Gourry glanced repeatedly from the picture and to the stone home. Then, he looked at Lina as she threw her stick to the side.

"So, Joe is inside?"

"Well, we don't know, the door is locked." Lina reached for the Dragon Slave's large bullet from its black holster on the side of her left calf. She tossed it up and caught it in mid-air. Smiling, Lina met Gourry's eyes and snickered. "But that never stopped us before."

* * *

"I'M HOME!" The front double doors burst open. Zelgadiss stepped inside first with his revolver extended. He scanned the darkness around him and looked around for a light switch after signaling the others that the coast was clear. When he finally found it, Lina was walking in with her revolver pointing outward in the dark, covering her two cohorts. Zelgadiss flipped the switch and the entire mansion lit up by the grand crystal chandelier above their heads. Made out of real crystal and clear diamonds, it was enough to make Lina squeal but this time; it had the least attention in the room. Hung from the cathedral ceiling by invincible wires, an abundant of plastic dolls surrounded the three hunters. From the sheer collection of dust and cobwebs, it looked like the dolls were not played with for a very extensive amount of time. The plastic dolls were of little girls with big crystal-like eyes, wearing cute big dresses and soft smiles were planted on their porcelain faces. There were millions of dolls dangling around the hunters, staring at them with innocent and emotionless dull eyes. It was just a little creepy. Zelgadiss sighed heavily when he felt tremendous tension around his neck and looked over his shoulders. Lina had an arm wrapped around Zelgadiss's neck from behind; she pointed her gun at the nearest plastic doll with a shaking hand.

"Creepy." The discomfort huntress continued to attach herself to the solid figure.

"And you call yourself the best bounty hunter in the land." Zelgadiss blew his long silver bangs slightly away from his damaged right eye.

"I DIDN'T EXPECT WALKING INTO A MANSION WITH FREAKISHLY DISTURBING DOLLS, ALRIGHT?" Lina hissed into his ear, she cringed when she noticed a plastic doll looking straight at her. "It's looking at me. It's looking at me. It's looking at me!" She pointed her gun at the doll's face and pulled back the hammer with her thumb. Zelgadiss saw her trembling index finger already pulling at the trigger and quickly grabbed the revolver out of her hand.

"We're supposed to be inconspicuous." He shoved Lina off his body and fixed his coat. "Not a sound until we find our man." Zelgadiss ordered. Lina just snorted at him and squirmed when the doll's eyes moved from Zelgadiss to her.

"Oh, wow." Gourry stood close to the dolls, his hand waving in front of their tiny porcelain faces. "Look, their eyes are following me." He mentioned. The eyes of the dolls were motion sensors; it followed his hand like a dog to a ball.

"It's creepy." Lina kept behind Gourry with a lack of comfort in her expression. "You can stop doing that, you Idiot!" She stopped him when Gourry started doing weird movements with his hand. As Gourry teased Lina of her new found fear of dolls, Zelgadiss sneaked through the doll collection and came out the other side. There was a stone spiral staircase that led to the second floor. On that floor, Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow to see a door with bright light shining through from the cracks. He analyzed the situation. Up the stairs, to the second level of the mansion, there is a door and a possibility that the fugitive was located. It was meant to be checked out. Locking the hammer down in his revolver, Zelgadiss kept his gun close to his face as he quietly walked up the staircase. There was soft sighing from behind the door. He didn't need the nuisance duo; they would only slow him down. The sighing continued and he can see a shadow past the bright light shining through from the crack. Only a few steps to the second floor, Zelgadiss reached into his trench coat and grabbed his second revolver from his shoulder holster. He bit his lip when he pulled the hammer on his second gun, making a clicking noise loud enough to cause the neighbors arise. The murmuring suddenly stopped and the shadow stopped moving.

He's been discovered! Zelgadiss rushed up the stairs, kicked down the door, and rolled over the hard floor. He landed on his knees and pulled the trigger of his revolver, spitting two bullets out the barrel at a tall man with his arms wrapped tightly around a plastic doll. One bullet grazed the man's cheek while the other hit his shoulder. It was not a direct kill shot but it was enough for the man to fall backwards, becoming immobilized. The man screeched, his blood flowing out from his shoulder. Zelgadiss stood up from the ground and pushed his two revolvers back into their holsters.

"H-Hey!" The strange man cradled his doll against his chest as Zelgadiss stood over him and grabbed his neck.

"Y-You're doing a grave mistake, mister! We're causing too much commotion! We're going to be discovered! Are you listening to me? HEY!" The hunter said nothing as he banded a rope around one of the man's wrist. He swiped doll from his other arm and tossed it across the room.

"NO!" The man cried out and lunged after it but Zelgadiss grabbed his free wrist and wrapped the rope around it with his other tied wrist preventing him from going after the doll.

"THAT WAS A VERY EXPENSIVE ANTIQUE DOLL, YOU FUCKING BAS-" The man stopped screaming immediately when Zelgadiss pressed the end of his gun barrel against his forehead and pulled the hammer back.

"Finish the sentence." He dared. The man gulped down a nervous wad of spit and stared at the hunter's serious expression. Zelgadiss scoffed aloud when he didn't say anything back. "That's what I thought-"

"ZELGADISS, YOU IDIOT!" Lina came from nowhere with a flying kick, her boot hitting against the side of Zelgadiss's face. As she did this, the revolver slipped out of his hand and dropped to the floor. The bind man's eyes widen, his mouth opening when the gun pulled the trigger on its own the moment it hit the floor. The bullet left the chamber and shot straight to where it was pointing, between the man's eyes.

"WHATEVER HAPPEN TO, THERE IS NO 'I' IN 'TEAM', YOU FUCKING LONE RANGER!" Lina shook Zelgadiss by his collar, a boot imprint on his face.

"Um, guys?" Gourry called them from behind, he knelt next to the lain body on the floor.

"DAMMIT, IF YOU'RE GETTING CREDIT FOR THE CAPTURE, I AM TOO!" She continued to shake him. "YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH DEBT, HARD HEAD! I OWE ZANGULAS OVER 40 DRINKS OF BEER!"

"I don't think you want credit for this capture, you guys." Gourry sighed. Lina heard his comment and turned her attention to him. "He's dead." He stood up and stepped over the dead man, allowing Lina and Zelgadiss to see him.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, GOURRY?" They shouted in unison.

"I didn't do it! It was this!" Gourry held the triple-barrel revolver made of gold and steel that he picked up and tossed it to Lina. She looked it over and saw the branded initials at the bottom of the handle, her glowing evil eyes turned to Zelgadiss.

"You made me drop it." He swiped his gun from her hands before she did something with it.

"GREAT!" Lina threw her arms in the air. "JUST GREAT!"

"What's so great about this? The guy is dead." Gourry said in a soft mutter. Luckily, Lina did not hear him or it would have caused more stirring in the pot.

"I've got an idiot swordsman and a loose cannon fat head that prefers to do his 'own' thing instead of doing 'OUR' thing and THIS is what happens!" The overwhelmed redhead pointed at the dead man on the floor. "Our OBJECTIVE was to capture this fucker ALIVE! HE'S NOT ALIVE, YOU BASTARD! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT-"

"I had the fugitive successfully bound, until YOU came out of nowhere and assaulted me thus making me drop my weapon to the floor, which fired a round on its own." Zelgadiss snorted loudly. "If you are going to make a fool out of yourself, at least get your facts straight, you slipup." Lina let out a fuming shriek and jabbed a long finger into his chest.

"GET THIS STRAIGHT, LONE WOLF! WE'RE A TEAM! WE NEED TO DO THINGS TOGETHER LIKE A TEAM! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO MATTERS IN THIS TEAM!" The gunslinger screamed. "AND AS TEAM LEADER, YOU BETTER FUCKING REALIZE YOUR ROLE OR I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU!" Zelgadiss stared at Lina's twitching eyes, having enough of the verbal abuse he slapped Lina's finger away.

"If you have such a big problem with me, I'll gladly work solo instead." He shoved past Lina. "I'll return the Lithium project and the dead body to Halshifom. You fools can take the other meaningless hunts."

"Zel, you were joking about the solo thing, right? We've been working together for a long time. I mean, a year and a half is a long time, right?" Gourry asked as Zelgadiss walked past him. "Zel? Hey, Zel?" Zelgadiss kept silent and left the room. Gourry sighed and looked back at Lina, his eyebrows curled angrily while his lips pursed upwards.

"What are you looking at me like that for? It's his fucking fault that the guy is dead." Lina said rather quickly. Gourry released a heavy sigh and turned his body away.

"Always the same." He said to himself and walked out the room. Lina followed him, still grumbling and fuming about Zelgadiss's wrongful behavior. Leaving the mansion of creepy little plastic dolls, Lina stopped just short of stepping out of the stone building and looked back inside. Her eyes squinted. She stared at the room on the second floor. There, a dark shadow against the wall representing the dead body on the floor, it was not moving. Lina kept her eyes on it as Gourry slowly pulled the front door close. Just when there was only a crack to see through, another shadow appeared in the room and it was standing over the other.

"Lina?" Lina grabbed Gourry by the wrist, stopping him from closing the doors fully. She lifted her hands to her eyes and rubbed it gently. Opening them wide and looking back at the room again, the shadows in the room were gone. Not even wasting a second to think, Lina ran back into the mansion and shoved past the dolls. Her partner rushed after her but when he did so, the front door slammed shut and locked loudly. Lina ran up the stairs and stopped at the entrance of the room. Expected to see the body on the ground, her eyebrows bunched in the middle when there was no dead body. Beside her feet, she discovered long bloody drag marks that lead out the room. Maybe it was Zelgadiss, she told herself. Lina turned away from the blood trail when Gourry called her name.

"The front door! It's locked!" He cried out from the entrance. Using his entire strength, he failed to yank it open. It was then they heard a loud crack of a gunshot followed by rapid rounds and an unfamiliar scream that made Lina's blood curl.

It was Zelgadiss.

* * *

Who else could be in the mansion? That was all Lina could think about. Sprinting through the dimmed decorated hallways crowded with plastic dolls, she and Gourry stopped at every room on the each level of the mansion.

"This doesn't make sense." Lina grinded her teeth together when she reached the last room on the 4th and final floor. She looked at Gourry, he was panting behind her. "That guy was Joe, right? And he was dead, right?"

"Yeah, I matched him with the sketching and he was dead." He nodded. "I checked."

"Hmmm…" The redhead scanned her eyes throughout each level of the mansion, ignoring the gleaming stares of the dolls. "Joe's body is gone, Zelgadiss is missing, and the front doors are locked." Leaving the empty stares by entering the room, Gourry shut the door behind him and watched Lina pace in front of him. She stopped suddenly.

"It looks like Joe wants to keep us here." Lina muttered softly.

"But Zel killed him-"

"Maybe Zel killed someone else." She told him. Gourry tilted his head. "Maybe Joe got a double just in case someone came for him. Than when the hunter kills the double, Joe will come in and kill the hunter." Lina paused and looked at Gourry.

"Zelgadiss." They both said in unison. Dread flashing in their eyes, the two stayed quiet, staring at each other. Lina gulped and opened her mouth to lighten the mood but Gourry grabbed her into his arms, his hand covered tightly over her lips. She looked at him with big shock eyes. About to shove away from him, she immediately froze when she heard it. It was the sound of dragging.

Her ruby eyes got bigger to hear heavy steel boots hitting against the floor alongside the dragging. Pressing his ear against the wooden room door, Gourry kept his lips stapled together as the eerie sounds got louder. It got so loud and close that Gourry could hear it pass the door. Even though she was pressed against his chest, Lina could hear the heavy low hissing noises. Once the sounds past the room, Gourry carefully opened the door and they peeked out. Going around the corner, there was a dark round figure disappearing into the next hallway and dragging behind it was Zelgadiss. Lina lowered her eyes. She winced to see a dragged blood trail. Zelgadiss is hurt.

"Let's follow it and get behind this mystery." Lina whispered to Gourry whom just nodded. Once Zelgadiss's limb body went around the corner, they quietly followed after the culprit who had their friend. They hid behind pillars when the slow walking person stopped and looked behind to see if there was anyone there. Confirming there wasn't; the person continued to walk down the lightly dimmed hallway until it came to a dead end. Lina and Gourry watched from behind a pillar as the dark figure lifted its round arm and let out a loud hiss, sounding like pockets of gas erupted from its body. A large bullet escaped its chamber and shot from the end of the barrel that was its arm. It blew a massive hole into the end of the hallway and exposed a brightly lit secret passageway. Lina and Gourry exchanged looks.

"Not human."

"What is it then, Lina?" Gourry kept his eyes on her while she looked back at the large figure step slowly through the hole it created and dragged Zelgadiss with it.

"From the hissing it makes," She stood up from behind the pillar and crept close, Gourry behind her. "I hope it's not what I think it is." They got to the large hole and glanced at each other with gasps. Beyond the thick cement wall was a large tile room with multicolored bulbs shining above. Standing around the room, pressed side-by-side like toy soldiers were an abundant of round metal robots with large cannon-like arms and foreign robotic guns latched on their shoulders.

"Fuck." Lina cursed softly, the tall 'person' was not human at all. She watched the rusty robot make its way into the center of the room and dump Zelgadiss's limb body on the floor. It let out a hiss of steam from its joints and turned to the only empty space next to its robot brethren. Sliding into the space, the robot let another strong hiss and shut down. Lina and Gourry watched from outside of the hole, staring intently at the robot army and glancing at their unmoving friend.

"What are we doing?" Gourry asked but Lina hushed him to keep quiet.

"Robots are man-made, Gourry. They need to be controlled by a person." Lina kept her eyes on the robot that just turned off. "Someone knows we're here and he's using Zelgadiss to lure us out." The two bounty hunters waited. They waited but nothing happened. Lina bit her lip, she noticed Zelgadiss moving slightly, the pool around his body was growing.

"Lina, he's hurt really bad."

"I know but we can't afford being caught now. We need to wait until someone comes out." Lina grabbed Gourry by the sleeve, preventing him from rescuing Zelgadiss. "We're the only ones who can get ourselves out of this situation. There are no back-ups for us."

"But," Gourry watched Zelgadiss struggling to breath. "He's going to die-"

"He's NOT going to die." She snapped at him and pulled him back to his heels. "Sit your ass down and WAIT." Gourry obeyed her commands. Sitting and waiting for a few silent minutes later, nobody came to claim Zelgadiss or to even finish the job. Lina was beginning to feel a little silly for waiting for nothing while her friend was slowly dying in front of her. Maybe she was wrong. Still, Lina stared at Zelgadiss, who were controlling the robots? She cursed when Zelgadiss tried to get up but only to fall back on his pool of blood.

"Let's get him out of there, Gourry." Lina reached around for her long sniper rifle behind her back and set it against the edge of the hole. She dropped her black pouch full of sharp long bullets next to her rifle so it was easier for her to grab and put up the telescopic view. "I'll cover you here while you get Zelgadiss."

"Got it." Gourry leaped into the hole and ran into the large room. He ignored the robots turning their heads as he rushed past them; his full attention was getting to Zelgadiss. Finally reaching him, Gourry knelt down and grabbed the wounded hunter by his arm, wrapping it loosely around his neck and holding him against his body.

"Gourry…" Zelgadiss managed to whisper out.

"I got you, Zel." Gourry turned his head quickly when loud hissing came from all around. In an instant, all the robots unanimously revolved their metal bodies and lifted their large cannon arms, targeting them. The wounded hunter looked up from the ground and glared at Gourry slightly.

"You idiot." He gritted his teeth and took his revolver from his hip holster. "It was a trap to lure you out. If not, I would've been dead a long time ago." Gourry sighed; he could already picture Lina saying 'I told you so'.

"What kind of robots, Zel?" His mind returned to the matter at hand.

"Too big to be remote control," Zelgadiss motioned Gourry to the robot that had dragged him in the room. There was a punctured hole in the center of its armor abdomen. "All these robots are human-operational but from my encounter with that machine earlier, there is nobody controlling it."

"So how do we defeat it?"

"I was able to puncture through the metal armor." He noted. "The scientist did not have the brains to equip them with a better suitable armor." Zelgadiss smirked and lifted his revolver to the robots. "One or two bullets at the chest would be enough to destroy their inner mechanics."

"Can you move?" Gourry asked without leaving his eyes on the hissing metal humans.

"Got three bullets lodged into my right thigh, four in my arm, and one in my shoulder." Zelgadiss noticed Gourry glancing at him with worry, he snorted at him. "I'll live." The swordsman nodded.

"Lina is covering us from top. But it may not be enough." They kept staring at each other. "If I can get you to one of them…" Gourry did not finish the sentence. Zelgadiss just smirked.

"We will have to see, won't we?" Returning his smirk, Gourry tugged Zelgadiss's body closer and kept hold of his limp bleeding arm around his neck.

"Let's do it than!" Gourry leaped to the side, dodging the first row of automatic bullets and sprinted past the first seven robots. On his side, Zelgadiss spit rounds from his revolver, accurately puncturing holes into every robot Gourry rushed past. One by one, the machine beings dropped to the ground. The heavy things turned slowly with their machine guns and continued to shoot at the tiny humans around their feet. But as one of them got close to hitting them, a piercing bullet from above punctured through the metal armor and ruined their complicated inner machinery, thus blowing them apart.

Lina smiled behind the telescopic eye, she moved her sniper rifle to the other robots and cheered loudly when she hit three robots with just one sharp bullet. Gourry ran behind a large pillar and set Zelgadiss against it, allowing him to continue to shoot the robots coming at them. Withdrawing his double-edge sword from its sheath, Gourry dodged a few bullets aimed at his face and bounced the bullets off his blade. He smirked to see a lone robot with its back towards him.

"Zel!" Gourry shouted over the firing, Zelgadiss looked over and noticed the lone robot. He nodded and allowed Gourry to grab him by the back of his trench coat. Gourry let out a loud grunt as he threw Zelgadiss into the air toward the unsuspecting robot. Once Zelgadiss landed on top of the robot, Gourry rushed into the open and caused a distraction to the other robots. He was able to take the top off and stuff his wounded right leg inside until Zelgadiss heard a loud click of a gun. He looked up and scowled, standing over him was another robot with the end of its barrel arm directly in his face. Just when the robot was ready to shoot, it was struck from the side and dropped to the ground. Zelgadiss turned his head.

"LEARN BY EXAMPLE, YOU IDIOT!" Lina shot another robot that was taking aim at Zelgadiss. "THIS IS WHAT TEAMMATES DO FOR EACH OTHER! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Rolling his eyes, Zelgadiss pushed himself into the still operating robot and took the controls into his hands. He moved the robot away from Gourry and shot at the rest of its comrades with its rapid machine gun, breaking them into pieces and bits. With the other robots destroyed, Zelgadiss pointed the end of his revolver at the controls and released his own bullets, demolishing the last robot in the room. He struggled to leave the machine, but when a large hand appeared next to his face, Zelgadiss looked up.

"Getting out?" Gourry asked from the top of the robot. Zelgadiss smirked and took his helpful hand. As Gourry helped Zelgadiss out of the big machine, Lina made her way past the fallen robots with her sniper rifle set against her shoulder.

"Well, well, well." She called out. "Look who needed help from his TEAMMATES."

"If I recall," The silver-haired burned victim leaned his body against a dead robot. "I didn't ask for help. You two volunteered."

"Volunteered? LOOK HERE, YOU FUCKING-"

"Thanks." Zelgadiss suddenly said aloud causing Lina and Gourry to fidget to the alien word. He blushed as the two intently stared at him and quickly got annoyed. Turning his body quickly away, Zelgadiss finally saw a door that led to another room against the wall. He looked back at Lina and Gourry; they had already taken notice of the room. Lina strapped her rifle back and retrieved her sawed-off bolt-action shotgun. As she loaded her shotgun, she walked calmly to the door and kicked it open. It was a small room, cramped with mechanic parts and foreign guns; in the middle of the room was a large metal table with the dead man from earlier laying on top of it.

"So, this is where Joe went." Lina remarked and lowered her gun. Behind her, Gourry helped Zelgadiss into the room.

"How did he get here though?"

"His robots must have brought him here." Zelgadiss peeled from Gourry and limped to the robotic blueprints that were under the dead body, he shoved the body off the prints and looked it over, completely uninterested in anything else.

"Look at this, Gourry." Lina and Gourry wandered around the room, they stared at the foreign guns leaning against the wall. "This was in the robot's arms." The redhead picked up the large Gatling shotgun from the ground, only to place it back down from the pure heaviness of it.

"Fuck. I can't bring this to the workshop." Lina cursed. If only Filia was here, she sighed and began to look through the mechanics of the gun. If she cannot bring it in, she can at least break it apart and see how it is made. Hopefully, Lina drew a big smile; she can replicate it and bring in big bucks from her gun-enthusiast customers.

"Lina!" Gourry called for her from the other end of the room. She looked up. "What's this?" He held up a large red stone above his head.

"Something red."

"Huh." Gourry looked at the stone and back at Lina with a big smile. "It has a pretty color like your eyes."

"P-PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU DROP IT ON YOUR HEAD, YOU IDIOT." The blushing redhead shouted at him. Gourry shrugged his shoulders and placed the large stone where he found it. Suddenly, he discovered a small magenta colored crystal resting on top of a wooden table in the corner of the room. It was encased in glass and looked fragile to the touch. Shoving through the weapons and broken robot pieces, Gourry finally reached to the table and stared at the crystal with wide eyes. It was giving off a soft light from within the rigged quartz. The mantle which the crystal was stationed upon was attached to multiple thick wires. Following the wires, it traveled everywhere in the room. One lead to a fuse box on the wall and another to a large computer station against one side of the room, the others seemed to disappear amongst the collection of motionless robot parts.

"Pretty." Gourry awed, completely uninterested in the wires and only at the pretty solid crystal. He turned his head when he heard loud cursing behind him. Lina was kicking at the large gun on the ground, complaining of its complicating mechanics.

"Lina likes pretty things." He smiled big and reached for the crystal. "The guy is dead so he won't miss it." Gourry concluded and removed the glass case. He took it off the mantel and looked it over. It was the size of his finger and it glowed mysteriously like a lantern. It would make a nice necklace pendent. Or, Gourry's smile spread wider, it would make a beautiful ring. He quickly shoved it into his pocket when he heard Lina calling his name.

"We're leaving, Gourry!" Lina screeched and noticed Zelgadiss staring intently at the blueprints. "What's the matter? You look like you're reading one of your mystery novels."

"This Halshifom guy…" He spread the prints over the metal table for Lina to see. "Is brilliant."

"Brilliant, huh? Even you wouldn't call yourself that."

"Shut up and listen." Zelgadiss hushed her. Lina rolled her eyes. "These plans," He glided his hand across the prints to flatten it out. "These plans are ahead of its time."

"How so?"

"These plans are instructions in creating an army of artificial intelligence without the use of remote or human control. He invented a robot that can think on its own." He whispered. "That's why none of these robots had anybody inside of it. They were thinking on their own without anyone ordering them too."

"Technology that can think on its own?" Lina scanned the prints over. "Hell, robots are already ahead of its time. To think that it is able to think on its own is fucking insane." Zelgadiss knelt down and flipped the corpse on its back; he began to look through his pockets.

"What are you doing?" The redhead asked, not fully understanding why he would result to petty thievery.

"He was warning me when I was tying him up." Zelgadiss patted the dead man's pants pocket. "He warned me about the robots before my gun killed him." He stopped when he felt something hard in his jacket pocket.

"Why would he be warning you about the robots if he was the person who created them in the first place?" Lina watched Zelgadiss pull out a small black book from the corpse's inner jacket pocket.

"Since they were able to draw thoughts, the robots decided to turn against their master." Zelgadiss stared at the book in his hand and at Joe. "The Idiot had to see his own robotic dolls turn against him."

"Sad." Lina snorted slightly. "He should have stick to plastic dolls."

"Oh well." Gourry said from behind, grabbing their attention. "At least we stopped him. Now we can give back the blueprints to the original owner- Lina?" His eyes widen when Lina struck a match against the cement floor. Moving the flame to the end of the blueprints, it caught on fire and burned in her hand.

"Aren't we supposed to give those back?" The clueless swordsman asked.

"Robots are not meant to think on their own, Gourry." Lina said as she placed the burning blueprints on the metal table.

"If these prints get to the wrong hands, imagine everything without peace." Lifting himself off the ground, Zelgadiss tossed the rest of the prints in the fire. "Brilliance should be used to better humanity. Not to destroy it." Nodding, Gourry stared at the beautiful flames in front of him. Eventually a soft smile appeared on his face and he looked at his redheaded who was already looking at him.

"We did really good." He chuckled. Lina sighed at his simple logic and smirked.

"Yes, Gourry. We did really good." She turned her head when she heard a snort.

"As long as the number of fugitives continues to grow, everything we do is going to be good." Turning to the door, Zelgadiss took a few steps with his right leg slightly dragging. "Come on, we have a job to do." Lina sighed at his overly negative and sarcastic remark. She certainly has two different teammates. Whilst Gourry gathered the dead body, Lina saw Zelgadiss grasp the edge of the doorway just as he passed it. She smiled slightly.

"Are you going to make it?" He didn't say anything for the answer was obvious that he was. "Or do I have the terrible task to tell your Amelia to move on?" Zelgadiss winced at her sudden tease and glared at her.

"Go to hell."

"Not until you tell her your true feelings, Zelgadiss." Lina snickered. "Poor girl is willing to wait forever for you but I won't let that happen." Growling with a soft blush, the silver-haired man let go of the doorway and limped away.

"Soon." Lina and Gourry heard him say and laughed quietly at his expense.

* * *

"Dammit." Lina watched the pieces to her Dragon Slave dropped to the ground. "Platinum wasn't it, either." She sighed and walked around the large destruction that she created. Since the front doors were still locked, Lina's short hot temper couldn't let up anymore and blew the entire front half of the mansion; and an acre of land away. Lina froze when she noticed a crispy black thing sticking out of the hole. It looked an awful lot like the leg of her horse. With much help from Gourry, Zelgadiss was able to get on top of his horse and began their travel home. Lina sighed and stared at the dead corpse of her horse, poking at it repeatedly with one of her daggers.

"Are you coming?" She turned her head around. Gourry was on his horse's back; he smiled at Lina and scooted upward in his seat. "There's a lot of room up here." He smiled. Lina stared at Gourry gentle smile and smirked, an embarrass blush appeared over her nose.

"Coming right up." As she climbed on top of the horse and sat behind him, the gentleman from the bar stepped out from behind a tree. He took his monocle from his right eye and gently cleaned the lens with a soft cloth, he watched Lina cuddle against Gourry's back with his curved rainbow-like eyes. Blowing at the clean lens, he placed it back in front of his right eye and stuffed the cloth into his pocket. The end of his black cane tapped on the ground twice before he walked away from the tree and to the half-destroyed mansion.

"My, my, my." The man sighed at the destruction of the Dragon Slave. He shook his head with a soft chuckle and fixed his monocle. "So this is the reason why she is feared in the East."


	3. Chapter 03 Wrong Culprit

Chapter 03 - Wrong Culprit

Lina and Gourry poked their heads inside. Sitting upright under the bed covers, Zelgadiss was engrossed in the black small novel he had found on Joe, his nose just a few millimeters from the pages.

"You don't look dead anymore." Lina and Gourry walked in.

"Thank Amelia, wherever she is." He dropped the book to his lap. On their arrival, Lina and Gourry delivered the heavily wounded bounty hunter, who was suffering from tremendous loss of blood. Instead of the town doctor, they went to the first available person. Successful in pulling all the bullets and sterilize the growing bacteria around his injuries, Amelia saved his life again.

"Are you ready to work?" Lina asked as she sat down near his feet.

"I am still recovering."

"You had three days of rest! How much longer do you need to heal?" She groaned. Zelgadiss just rolled his eyes and brought his book up to his face.

"Your presence here is a waste of time. Get back to work."

"If we get another major job, I'll split my reward with you, Zel." Gourry happily told him, in which got Zelgadiss to smirk.

"If you're willing to give away your money so gracefully, give it to me instead." Lina's fist bounced off Gourry's empty skull. She grabbed Gourry by his earlobe and dragged him behind her. "I got a better idea, why don't I just tell Amelia to give me all your wages from now on? That way, it'll be less work for me."

"Where's Amelia?" Zelgadiss suddenly asked before they left the room.

"She's delivering the dead body to our client as we speak." The redhead informed him.

"She thought it will be easier for her to talk him into giving us the cash reward, instead of us." Gourry shrugged his shoulders. "But she said she'll be back before dinner though." The wounded hunter nodded and return to his book. After a while of just reading, he felt a sudden tinge of annoyance. Loitering in his room, Lina and Gourry were staring at him with big grins.

"What?" He finally looked at them with a glare.

"How come you never ask where WE are, Zel? You're always asking where Amelia is or what Amelia is doing-"

"Or when is Amelia coming back." Gourry joined in.

"I don't give a fuck about you two."

"Oh, so, you give a fuck about Amelia, then?" The redhead teased with a cat-like grin. Zelgadiss growled with a soft blush over his nose. As Lina and Gourry smiled at his reaction, Zelgadiss grabbed the revolver on his bed stand and released four bullets. The two hunters miraculously dodged the rounds and ran off, giggling away like children. They can still hear Zelgadiss's angry threats as they ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Gourry suddenly stopped dead in his tracks causing Lina to bump into him. She glared at the back of his head and opened her mouth to yell at him until she saw what made him stop in his tracks.

Standing behind the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables with a large cleaver, was a tall woman with long beautiful golden hair with her back towards them. Besides her chopping board, a big pot of boiling water and a kettle sat on top of an iron cast stovetop. Behind the woman was a round table and sitting on chair, there was a teenager with shoulder-length green hair wearing a black vest over his naked top-half and a pair of black jeans. In his hand, he was toying around with a sharp blade. He blew the strands of his long bangs away from his eyes as the tall woman continued to lecture him about something irrelevant.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I promise." The teen muttered sarcastically and slouched in his wooden chair as he stabbed the end of his blade repeatedly into the wood, making little marks. Then he took notice of Lina and Gourry. Watching the two hunters go on their tiptoes and quietly walk past the woman in the white slimming dress, the teenager sat up and smiled.

"How was the hunt, Huntress of Death and Idiot Stooge?" He asked loudly just as they got close to the backdoor that led to the backyard. In a sudden action, the tall woman swiftly turned around and threw her large cleaver at the two hunters. The knife struck the door, just millimeters away from Lina's fingers, stopping her from leaving.

"Where are you two going so discreetly?" Filia Ul Copt smiled sweetly with a new weapon. She tapped the end of the spike iron club against the palm of her hand.

"Nice going, Brat." Lina slightly glared at the teenager. The boy with green hair sighed happily and crossed his arms behind his head, overjoyed that the topic had now migrated away from him and to the two dangerous hunters.

"Sit down in my office." Their boss said in an angelic voice but Lina and Gourry could already see the dark hell fire surrounding her body. They quickly sat around the round table.

"Since you're going to be busy, I'm going to tend to the store-"

"Sit down." The woman grabbed the teen's shoulder and shoved him down on his seat. "I'm not done lecturing about your studies, Val." Val released a loud snort at Lina when she snickered towards him. After tending to her meal, Filia passed around ceramic teacups around and placed the whistling teakettle in the middle of the wooden table.

"Which one would you like to drink, Gourry?" She shoved two boxes with different types of tealeaves inside. "The green or blue one?"

"Which one taste better?"

"It depends on what you are in the mood for." Filia placed one of the cans down. She took a pinch of the green tealeaves and gentle grinded it between her fingers, breathing into its soft scent. "This has a nice aroma even when it is dried so you can imagine how soothing it will be when it's brewed in hot water. It relaxes the soul and allows the tea enthusiast to feel full and accomplished." Without looking at her hunters, Filia sighed softly. "Like when you complete a hunt WITHOUT KILLING ANYONE." Lina and Gourry exchanged looks. This will not end well.

"The blue one." She put down the can holding the green leaves down and picked the other off the table top. "If you drink this, you die." She suddenly said aloud, the two hunters squirmed in their seats. "But I'm not an amateur tea brewer, I am a professional-"

"Didn't you just start brewing tea last week?" Lina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I WASN'T FINISHED TALKING." Without warning, Filia slammed her iron mace on the top of the table, making Lina, Gourry, and the leaves jump. Val picked his nose calmly. He was already used to Filia's explosive and unpredictable manner. She smiled at Lina innocently. "Was I?" The redhead shook her head.

"Now," The blonde continued. "Because I am a professional and I know the proper way to brew this tea, I surely hope you will pick this one, Gourry." Filia placed the can of blue leaves in front of Gourry. "It will be more delicious than the other one." She pushed the can further towards him.

"Um," Gourry scratched the end of his chin. "How many times did you make this blue tea?"

"This will be my first time." Filia said with a slight giggle. Gourry gulped and glanced at his partner.

"I want to live." She growled through her teeth. He nodded and pointed at the can holding the green leaves.

"The green-"

"I knew you'll pick the blue tealeaves, Gourry." Filia ignored his initial choice and swiftly took the can with the blue leaves. Lina and Gourry watched with wide eyes as she shoved the entire can-full of blue tealeaves into the teakettle with boiling water. She did not bother to wait for the leaves to soak in the water and began to fill their teacups. They stared at their presented cups, pieces of blue leaves floated on top of their drinks.

"Please." Filia had her own cup of blue tea water. "Drink it."

"Um… I'll drink it later-"

"Don't make me beg, now." She smiled kindly. "Please, drink the tea and tell me how it tastes."

"I don't think-"

"DRINK THE DAMN TEA." Filia snarled. The grip on her cup tightened and it shattered the ceramic dish into pieces. Lina and Gourry grabbed their cups and chugged it down their throats. It was better to die from poison than to die through Filia's hands. Val pushed his cup away after taking a quick sip of it.

"This is fucking horrible." He commented and Filia reached over. She grabbed his cheek and yanked the skin as far as possible.

"What did you say, my son? I couldn't hear you. Would you care to say it again?" She asked politely as she stretched his face.

"It's delicious." Her son replied. Filia giggled and unhanded his cheek. Val turned his body away from her and rubbed the side of his face with a big pout, an embarrassed blush appearing over his nose.

"How was the mission?" Filia got off her chair to grab another cup for herself.

"It was good." Lina and Gourry said simultaneously.

"Really?" She returned to her seat and poured herself the blue tea. "Then why is it that the man who was supposed to be captured alive is dead?"

"We don't know." The two said quickly.

"Can you explain how Zelgadiss got his injuries?"

"We don't know." They said again.

"Then what about the large crater in the Saillune forest?"

"What crater?" They answered with clueless faces.

"You both know exactly what I'm talking about." Filia could feel her anger towering over her emotions. "The crater that dangerous weapon creates whenever you, Lina, uses it."

"Do I have a dangerous weapon, Gourry?" Lina turned her well-acted expression to Gourry.

"I do believe she means the Dragon Slave."

"But Filia, you told me never to use that." The redhead looked at Filia innocently. "I would never go against your word-"

"Cut the bullshit, you idiots." Val suddenly spoke out of turn. "The fuzz was in the area when you released that weapon of mass destruction. They already came to the shop and pressed 'forest endangerment' charges on both of you." Lina chuckled nervous-like and looked at Filia with a big smile.

"Um, I can explain-"

"You have 15 seconds before I revoke your workshop privileges and you go back to bending metal over a weak campfire outside." The woman snapped. Instantly, Lina opened her big trap and told everything to her boss. From the creepy dolls to Joe's disappearance, and to blowing up half of the mansion because of a locked front door.

"Then we rode to Saillune as quick as we can before Zel died! There! That's it! That's what happened!" Lina threw her arms in the air and sat back down in her seat with a heavy groan. She shrugged Gourry's hand away when he patted her shoulder. They watched as Filia took a long drink of her tea. Releasing a soft sigh of relief, she looked at Val with a smile.

"Give it to them." She told him and got off her seat.

"Not even a slap on the wrist?" Val raised his eyebrow. He watched Filia go back behind the kitchen counter and return cutting the vegetables. "After all that, you're still going to give this mission to them?" When she did not answer back, Val just rolled his eyes and opened his vest, letting Gourry and Lina see his chiseled abdomen.

"Hey, Val." The redhead leaned forward over the table as he took out a file from his inner vest pocket. "I see that you are still trying to get Amelia's attention, aren't you?"

"What?" Val's eyes angrily squinted at her.

"You're abdomen didn't look that tone since your crush on Sylphiel." She snickered.

"Look, I don't know where you hear these false accusations but you should keep your fucking nose out of people's business, you meddling numbskull." Val rolled up the file in his hand and slapped Lina on top of her head. "You too, idiot." He slapped Gourry as well.

"Don't you think you should at least TRY to stop swearing in front of your mother?" Filia snarled behind him.

"I don't give a fu-" A cleaver struck the thin spaces between Val's fingers. "I'm sorry!" He quickly yelped out with a nervous sweat. Filia nodded with a smile and grabbed another cleaver from her kitchen drawer.

"Look, I'm older than you-"

"By 8 years." Val muttered as Lina swiped the file from his hand.

"The point is, I'm older and I can meddle into your personal business however much I want too." She opened the file in front of her eyes as she gave him a sneaky smile. "That and you really shouldn't leave your diary around, you little sissy, people will read it."

"YOU-" Val opened his mouth to say something nasty only to feel devil eyes glaring at the back of his head. "YOU-YOU ARE SO NOT CUTE!" He shouted instead. Lina snorted and lowered her eyes onto the file.

"I heard worse from your mother." She mumbled. Val discharged a loud snarl and grabbed his dagger off the table. He pointed the tip at her.

"Nice draw, kid." Gourry smirked but glanced at Lina. "But, next time, don't bring a dagger to a gunfight." He chuckled as Lina pulled back the hammer of her revolver. The teen froze to see the end of the barrel pointing at his face and changed his mind. Once she saw him shove his dagger back into its holster, she carefully unlocked her gun and pushed it back to her left holster.

"When are you going to teach your kid how to shoot a gun, Filia? Or is he going to have to wear body armor like Gourry for the rest of his life?"

"There is no need. Val is going to be a very successful business man or doctor." Filia dump the contents of her chopped vegetables into the big pot of boiling water. "He's never going to touch a revolver." Her words made Val squirm in his seat, Gourry and Lina watched Val as he glared at his hands. Lina sighed and looked back at the open file in front of her.

"Who are we looking for this time?" Gourry looked over Lina's shoulder. He stared at the rough sketching of an older man with thinning long hair and an intense look in his eyes.

"Halshifom." Val told them. Lina and Gourry lifted their heads quickly.

"Halshifom?" The redhead curled her eyebrows. "He's our client."

"Usually, I'll refuse this but when Phil came to the shop and kindly asked me to bring this fugitive in," Filia came around and sat down in her seat. "Well, I can't say no to Saillune's mayor and Police Commissioner."

"Fugitive?" Gourry scratched the back of his head.

"We just learned that he's wanted for kidnapping 8 women in Saillune and was just spotted kidnapping the 9th." Val snorted. "The guy made us think that he's an innocent scientist and used us to do his bidding for him."

"Wait a damn second." Lina pounded her fist on the table. "Who the hell is Joe then? I thought HE was a prime suspect in kidnapping the 8 women!"

"Joe is wanted criminal in Bezeld. Not in Saillune." The bounty huntress's boss rested her chin against her knuckle. "He came to Saillune to run away from the west, met Halshifom, and became an accomplice to Halshifom's crimes. So, in association, he is a prime suspect."

"No wonder the technology in his mansion was superior. He must have brought technology from the west. That's how he was able to build those machines." Lina's eyes squinted slightly. "Halshifom must be from the west, right?"

"Born and bred here in Saillune." Val mentioned. Placing the file on the table, Lina leaned into her chair.

"Let's start from the beginning." The redhead sighed. "This guy comes to the shop, asking for bounty hunters to find his ex-partner in crime and his stolen experiment. Then, we go to the mansion where robots attack us out of no reason and these machines were not controlled by anyone but rather, thinking on their own. And now, the same guy who asked us to bust our asses looking for his ex-best friend and almost getting one of us killed, is the prime criminal for kidnapping 9 women in Saillune and was actually using us to get back what he lost in the first place, which was his stolen experiment."

"And since he already knew that you were known to kill almost every criminal that you are assigned too, he naturally came to the infamous Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, to do his dirty work. To kill the only person who can prove that Halshifom committed those kidnappings." The teen told the two hunters.

"So, basically," Lina sat up in her seat. "Bring the guy in alive or at the very least, bring back the 9 women, right?"

"Right." Filia smiled.

"Y-You went too fast." Gourry said with dizzy spells for eyes. He groaned aloud and pressed his pounding head against the table.

"Listen carefully next time, you idiot." Lina grabbed the pack attached to her back pockets and checked to see if she had enough rounds. "I'm going to have to drop by the workshop to pick up rounds but Gourry and I should be back before dinner-"

"You're seriously taking this lightly." Val said with a snort. "He's not going to be like the other losers you've been catching, Lina. If his partner made weak thought-filled robots, think about what this guy can make. He probably makes killing machines."

"It's not like we didn't see killing machines before." She said suddenly making Val blink. Lina realized what she had said and cursed beneath her breath as Filia shook her head and left her chair.

"Look, kid." She turned her head to the teenager. "When you get to my age, you'll see things that you weren't meant to see, alright?"

"I'm 8 years younger than you. What could you have possibly have seen within the eight years that I haven't seen?"

"THINGS THAT FUTURE DOCTORS AREN'T MEANT TO SEE." Lina snarled as she grinded the end of her revolver barrel at Val's skull. "Now, go back to your studies before I make Gourry tell you one of his endless bedtime stories."

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!" The teen quickly pushed himself off his seat and stomped away. Lina waited until she heard Val slam the door to his bedroom before talking to Filia.

"He's going to sneak off one day and be a hunter."

"I know." Filia took a sip of her hot soup. Lina stared at the back of her head and smirked.

"You think he remembers?"

"Of course not." The tall blonde grabbed a bowl and poured the flavored liquid inside. "But when he does, I'll tell him the truth."

"The truth." Lina repeated and accepted the bowl of soup that Filia handed to her.

"Yup." Filia nodded. Lina stared at the woman's genuine smile.

"I still don't understand why you quit your job as a huntress and became a mother." Taking a long drink of the soup, Lina licked her lips generously and gave back the empty bowl to Filia with a smile.

"But, whatever, as long as you keep this shop and keep feeding me, I'm fine with your decision."

"That reminds me, you still owe me 4 months of overdue rent-"

"Would you look at the time, Gourry?" Lina turned away quickly. "I think we should get out of here and find Halshifom."

"Why?" Gourry asked as he lifted his tired head off the table. "I thought Amelia was delivering the body back to him."

"Are you serious, Gourry? Did you really forget what we were talking-" Lina stopped suddenly. Her eyes widen.

"Oh my…" Filia gasped out. Gourry glanced between Lina and Filia's shocked expression and raised his eyebrow. Did he say something wrong?

"Fuck!" Lina rushed out the kitchen to the backyard where the horses were tied. "Where was she meeting him?" She asked as she quickly climbed over a horse, Gourry was following suit.

"At the town entrance." Filia told her, she tossed Gourry his sword that he had clumsily forgot in the house. "She left early so hopefully he didn't reach her yet."

"Not likely." Lina grabbed the reins and wheeled the large neighing animal around. "Come on, Gourry!" She kicked the sides of the tan horse harshly and shot off. When Gourry caught up, they were racing their horses down the dirt path.

"What's going on, Lina?" Gourry asked. Lina's eyes widen to see the entrance to the town; she leaned forward on her horse and reached for her revolver on her hip.

"Amelia is in trouble." As they rode closer, Lina gulped to see a horse trotting around near the entrance of the town. Stopping their horses just as they got to the gate, the two hunters greeted the horse without its owner. Tied to the horse's saddle, there was a wooden cart carrying the dead body of Joe.

"It's Amelia's horse." Gourry noted. Lina checked around her surroundings. The corpse was still here but Amelia is gone. Moreover, her horse was tied to a tree so Amelia probably got here earlier than expected and brought her guard down. In that few silent minutes, Lina could hear the loud thumbing of her heart beating against her chest. Could Halshifom got to her? Lina's ruby eyes shrunk. If he did, she's as good as dead. She visualized Amelia's sweet face and it caused her to choke. Gourry was busy looking around the scene. He stopped when he spotted drag marks on the dirt.

"Lina." He called her but she did not respond. Gourry turned his head and saw her face buried in her palms. "Lina." Gourry repeated, interrupting her from her running thoughts. Lina quickly turned around.

"She's not dead, Lina. I found drag marks. Someone must have surprised her and dragged her away. Looking at the markings, it's recent."

"Okay." Lina nodded and grabbed the reins of her horse. She was about to ride past Gourry when he suddenly grabbed her hand, making her jerk on the reins and stopping the horse. She kept her head away as Gourry moved next to her and smiled.

"We can catch up to him and get Amelia back." He whispered. When she didn't say anything back, Gourry chuckled softly and entwined his fingers with hers. "We have too or Zelgadiss will never forgive us and he will never ever leave us alone." That caused a smirk. Lina turned her face to him and showed him her soft smirk. Smiling at each other now, Lina shrugged off her worry and slipped her hand away from his.

"Come on, Gourry. Let's find that girl." The redhead hit the sides of her horse. She held onto the reins as the horse rise to its hind legs and jolted into the dirt path where the drag marks lead. Following close behind, Gourry kept his hand on the handle of his sword as they rode down the path. They were racing the clock. If they don't find Amelia soon, who knows what could happen to her? Lina grinded her back molars, she would never stop blaming herself if something happened to Amelia. The horses instantly stopped running when they heard a loud crack of a gun; the animals rose to their hind legs and stomped on the dirt below them. Lina and Gourry listened closely as another loud snap of a gun and another echoed the deep forest. Then, another.

"That way!" Lina pointed down the green path. "Come on!" As their horses ran toward the sounds, the hunters could hear multiple grunts and punches being landed. The gunshots stopped and the forest was filled with shouting and yelps. What was going on? Lina could feel her nervous sweat dripping down her forehead. Where the hell is Amelia? They finally rushed into a wide forest clearing; their horses caught their breath as they trotted slowly. The large animals let out a soft snort, hinting to their riders to get off but Lina and Gourry had their attention on something else.

"PLEASE! NO MORE!" The large man in black leather cowboy clothes whined, his hands held up in mercy. He had broken teeth and bruises all over his face. "WE APOLOGIZE! MERCY!" The rest of the injured cowboys joined his begging, pleading for their life at the young woman standing over them with her hands to her hips.

"You fiends." The young woman pouted. "You kidnap an innocent helpless maiden, thinking that she is worth something as a sex slave." The dark-haired girl in the loose white mini dress grabbed one of the cowboys by his black bandanna around his neck and glared deathly at him. "My body is pure, innocent, and fresh! And it will remain that way until I exchange vows with my future husband or until my one and only true love tells me that he loves me back and thus, my body belongs to him! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"That wasn't our intentions though." The man whimpered. "We were going to keep you hostage for money. Not sell you as a sex slave-"

"SILENCE! YOUR EXCUSES WILL NOT WORK ON ME!" She threw the sobbing man in the air. As he flew, Amelia pulled her dress slightly up her thigh causing the cowboy's eyebrows to bounce. Keeping the dress from getting in her way, she jumped in the air and lifted her toned bare leg over her head. It was a perfect view of her revealing pink panties but once she dropped her leg down against the man's stomach, the rest of the cowboys realized how much hurt they were going to be when their comrade skidded across the dirt and his body hit against a dozen trees like a metal ball in a pinball machine. Landing gracefully on top of a large boulder, she released her dress that ended at her knees and placed her hands to her hips. The bandits looked at their extremely hurt comrade and then to Amelia.

"Ace." She puckered her lips at them with her body bent and her dress rising up to mid-thigh. An emotion of awe and adoration flashed on the cowboy's faces but was quickly altered when she raised her gloved hand and clenched it into a tight gripping fist. She smiled angelically.

"Who's next?"

* * *

"You are a fucking worry, you know that?" Lina snarled at the tiny woman sitting behind her on the horse. Amelia gave off a faint giggle and scratched the back of her head.

"I apologize, Lina-San. The last thing I want is to make you and Gourry-San worry about me."

"Whatever." The bounty huntress snorted with an angry pout. "As long as you're alright."

"But that was pretty cool, Amelia! You kicked all those cowboy's asses!" Gourry said loudly. "I wish I could have seen you doing your moves on them!" He began punching in the air and make chopping sounds, Amelia giggled and smiled wide as Gourry tried to fight against the wind and control his horse at the same time.

"By the way," Amelia tugged the end of Lina's red blouse. "How did you know I was being kidnapped?"

"Well…" Lina sighed. As Lina informed Amelia about the truth, the horses continued to trot across the green forest towards the entrance of Saillune.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" She screeched into Lina's ear. "That FIEND used US!" Amelia waved her arms like a child as Lina rolled her eyes with a slight groan. She knew better then to tell Amelia EVERYTHING.

"We must stop him before he kidnaps another innocent maiden for his twisted sexual antics!"

"Why do you always think that every bad guy wants to do something perverted to their hostages?" Gourry asked softly with a great amount of cluelessness.

"No, little Princess." The huntress snapped at Amelia. "Not WE, just Gourry and me!"

"But-But-But you two need my help-"

"If I recall, Filia gave you a promotion, REMEMBER?"

"Sitting behind the counter, sweeping the shop, and providing customer service to pottery lovers is NOT a promotion. I'd rather have a cut of the bounty than an hourly wage." Amelia crossed her arms and pouted angrily. Lina just rolled her eyes again. "After agreeing to be an adviser, Filia-San has been giving me more responsibilities that are not even in the job description."

"Well, who else can help those pedophile customers of hers?" Lina snickered. The dark-haired tiny woman glared at the back of Lina's head. "BESIDES, why do you want to risk your life chasing after criminals? Being a Bounty Hunter is not easy. ESPECIALLY if you're a female." Lina scoffed loudly and turned her head to look at Amelia. "Do you know how much I have to suffer when I'm in a hunt? There is NO toilet paper!"

"You sound just like Daddy." Amelia muttered.

"That's because he's right, kid-"

"I'm not a child." She snapped at Lina. "I have turned 19 last month, trained under the best martial artist master in the East, and I've been training to be a justice fighter since I was born-"

"Then be a Police Officer." Lina snorted. Amelia puffed her cheeks like a walrus and turned her angry head away from Lina.

"I don't get to wear what I want if I'm a police officer and Daddy is going to be watching me like a HAWK. Not like he does that right now." She grumbled as she glared at the back of her black leather fingerless gloves. Lina and Gourry chuckled softly to her complaints. Reaching the front entrance of Saillune, Gourry stopped his horse when he noticed a man with white shoulder-length hair bended over the dead corpse of Joe in the wooden cart. Lina noticed and brought her horse to a halt, she finally saw the man in the white long coat fiddling with the black tarp over the dead body. Once the tarp slipped off the dead man's face, the stranger stared at the corpse for a few seconds before giving off a soft smirk.

"Finding gratitude in your partner's death?" Lina held the end of her revolver at the back of Halshifom's head. Halshifom raised his eyebrow and slightly turned his head over his shoulder, he met Lina's ruby eyes.

"Where are the blueprints for the lithium project?"

"Where are the 9 girls?" She answered with a question. The man released a soft smile.

"You mean the organ donors?" Lina, Gourry, and Amelia's eyes widen at his comment. "They are fine, whatever that's left of them."

"You sick bastard." Lina growled. "I should kill you right here, right now-"

"But you won't." Halshifom suddenly stood up, towering Lina and the gun in her hand. "You need me to get back the girls." Lina stared at his confident smile. There was something weird about this guy… She yelped when Amelia stepped forward and shoved her pointer finger in his face.

"You will show us where the girls are located or justice will prevail over you!" The young adult threatened. Lina sighed; she kept her revolver pointed at Halshifom while grinding her angry fist into Amelia's head.

"First lesson in hunting, don't make me look like a fucking idiot." She snarled. Amelia whined softly, holding her head in pain. Lina snorted and looked at the criminal, she pouted to see him smirking.

"Okay, Halshifom. You are going to take us to where the girls are located and accompany us to prison."

"And if I don't?" Halshifom asked daringly.

"If you don't cooperate with my demands," Lina directed her revolver at his face. "Well then, I can't guarantee that you will live after today." She whispered with a sly smile. Halshifom stared at Lina and her unusual modified revolver then turned his attention to Gourry who was standing close behind with his sword already itching to leave its sheath. He released a soft chuckle.

"You are certainly persuasive." As he turned around the other way, Amelia nodded and began to follow him only to have Lina grab the back of her white dress and pull her back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lina asked with a pulsing vein on her cheek.

"I'm helping." She smiled innocently.

"No. You are getting in the way." The red head pushed Amelia to the entrance of Saillune. "Now, get out of here before I tell your Daddy on you." Amelia pouted annoyingly; she twisted her arms behind her head and entered through the front gates of Saillune. Lina shook her head when Amelia looked back at her with big innocent puppy eyes, she directed her revolver towards her and Amelia quickly left her sight.

"Are you coming, Bandit Killer?" Halshifom asked aloud. Lina sighed and walked after him, her partner followed.

"Is this really a good idea, Lina?" Gourry whispered. "He's not the good guy."

"I don't trust him either, Gourry, but how else are we going to get those girls back?" The Huntress explained to him.

"But what if he's lying? What if the girls are already dead?" He questioned. Lina turned her attention to Halshifom and stared at the back of his head.

"Well, we're going to find out sooner or later, right?"

* * *

Zelgadiss looked up when he heard loud footsteps hitting against the hardwood floor. He raised his eyebrow when the doorknob of his room jiggled rapidly.

"Zelgadiss-San. It's me." It was Amelia. Zelgadiss closed the black journey and got off his bed. He walked past the full-length mirror in his room and stopped. Taking a few steps back, he looked himself in the mirror. His right arm and left shoulder were wrapped in thick bandages, preventing him to wear a shirt. He looked down at his built naked chest and then at the deep tissue scars against his skin. Sighing, he grabbed a loose shirt from his dresser.

"Zelgadiss-San." Amelia continued to call him from behind his door. "Are you asleep?" She knocked on his door repeatedly. Zelgadiss twitched in pain as he slipped his hands into the cloth and failed miserably to pull the shirt on.

"No, I'm-" He changed his mind in wearing his shirt and tossed it across his room. "I'm coming." It's just Amelia, he concluded. She saw his scars before so it should be all right. Even so, Zelgadiss positioned himself behind his door; he did not want her to see him like this. Unlocking his room door, he was shoved to the side when Amelia pushed the door wider and entered his room without permission.

"Amelia, what-" The young woman stormed into his weapons closet.

"Come on, Zelgadiss-San." She went straight to the large shotgun placed against one wall of the walk-in closet and plucked it off its stand. "We're going to work."

"Define 'work'." Zelgadiss leaned on the closet door. He stared with amusement as Amelia pulled out every drawer in the closet and stuffed her dress pockets with ammo.

"We need to help Lina-San and Gourry-San." Her eyes lit up when she withdrew the last drawer of weapons. There was a revolver sitting in protective foam and it was the size of her tiny hand. The tiniest revolver she ever saw, it had one barrel and a bullet chamber that held 4 rounds.

"What kind of help?" He continued to question her.

"Dangerous help that requires your brilliance, my fists, and our drive for JUSTICE!" Amelia took the small gun from the drawer and grabbed the ends of her dress. She raised her loose white material over her creamy thigh and stuffed the gun under her black thigh holster that carried her personal items. Zelgadiss sighed. He turned around and marched back to his bed. Sitting under his covers and taking back the interesting reading material in his hands, Zelgadiss let out a loud snort.

"Have fun helping."

"W-W-W-Whaaat?" Amelia fell into a pile of grenades. She poked her head out of the explosives and looked at the unenthusiastic man with a big pout and innocent eyes. "You're not coming along, Zelgadiss-San?"

"How can I? I am still injured." He flipped a page in the journal.

"But, Zelgadiss-Saaaan!" She climbed out of the grenades and rushed to his bedside. "You need to come! Lina-San and Gourry-San needs our help-"

"If they truly needed our help, they will send out a distress signal into the air." Zelgadiss ignored her puppy-eyes, a skill he achieved after countless trials.

"But, still! We need to help our comrades!" Amelia bounced next to him. He just released a soft grunt and kept reading. Pouting now, Amelia climbed over his bed and straddled her body over his lap. "We are going to help our comrades!" She grabbed the book in his hands and tossed it across the room. Zelgadiss opened his mouth to reply but Amelia pinned him down on the bed by his shoulders and glared at him with blue fire in her eyes.

"Get off your butt and get dressed! RIGHT NOW!"

"Yes, Ma'am." He answered back fearfully. Amelia nodded and sat up on his stomach, quickly transforming her evil snarl into an innocent sweet smile.

"See? Was that so hard?" She giggled. Zelgadiss rolled his eyes. He is able to ignore her adorable puppy-eyes but he was not resistant from her evil persuasion. Although, he watched her struggle to get off his body and keeping her dress from rising more than it already is. He smirked, she rarely showed off that face of her and for her to share it with him, he felt as if he was closer to her than anyone else. Then again, a flash of blush appeared on his face when she removed herself off his stomach and showed the back of her pink cotton panties, she also showed that evil persuasion to Gourry and her father so perhaps, he was no different.

"Okay, Zelgadiss-San! I'll continue filling my pockets while you get dressed and we'll be with Lina-San and Gourry-San in no time-"

"Not 'we'." Zelgadiss said aloud. Amelia watched him get off his bed and walk past her. "Just me."

"Whaaat?" Her mouth dropped. "But, what about Amelia-Chan?"

"Amelia-Chan gets to wait here while Zelgadiss-San finds the Idiot Killer and her Idiot Stooge." Zelgadiss went to his weapons closet and grabbed his trusty revolver from the top of the drawer. Amelia rushed to his side.

"But I want to help-"

"You helped enough." He pulled out a nearby drawer and picked the rounds inside. "Besides what would Phil say if he knew his daughter was a gun slinger?" Amelia pouted angrily, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Daddy doesn't need to know." As she grumbled, Zelgadiss filled his revolver's bullet chamber with sharp rounds and carefully loaded it, releasing a loud click. He grabbed his shoulder holster from the wall and shoved the gun inside. He raised his eyebrow when he did not see his second revolver in its usual spot and turned his eyes on Amelia. She noticed his stern expression and pouted. Reaching into the back of her dress, she grabbed the revolver from the belt she wore over the loose material. She obediently handed it back to him and watched with a bigger pout as he placed that revolver into his own belt holster.

* * *

"If I don't return by tomorrow morning, send someone after me." Zelgadiss said as he climbed over his horse. With much help from Amelia, he was able to pull his black shirt on and put his beige trench coat over. "And when I mean by 'someone', I don't mean the Mayor's daughter."

"Oh!" Amelia stomped her angry foot against the dirt ground, she continued to brush her fingers through his horse's blonde mane. "Can't I just-"

"Not in your life, Amelia." And he's going to make it so. Zelgadiss grabbed the reins and clicked his heels against the horse's side. Riding the large animal through the dirt town, Amelia watched the brave Bounty Hunter rush off in hope to rescue his teammates. She released a soft sigh and dropped her arms to her side, accidentally hitting the holster on her thigh and wiggling the tiny revolver from its hold. It dropped to the ground, next to her steel-toed shoes. Amelia stared at the gun for a few silent seconds. She bent down and picked it off the dirt carefully, holding it tightly in her hand. Staring at the revolver, a wide smile formed across her face.

"He didn't say WHOSE Mayor's daughter." She snickered aloud and rushed back into the shop.


	4. Chapter 04 Rising Revival

Chapter 04 - Rising Revival

It has been 4 hours. Lina's right eyebrow twitched incredibly. She and Gourry have been following this guy for 4 hours. Does it take 4 hours to get to where they need to be? No, it does not. Lina concluded. She glared at the back of Halshifom's head. He had led them off the green path and into the deep forest, getting them as far away from Saillune as possible. What if, her red eyes squinted, it's all a trap? Well, she smirked, she'll know soon enough. Lina rolled her eyes when she felt Gourry grab her hand again. She's been trying to ignore him for the first 10 minutes, but Gourry kept walking close and it has been a task to push him away.

"No, Gourry." Lina hissed and shook him away. "We are working!"

"But, Lina," He frowned. She gave out an evil snarl through her teeth, making him sigh and stuff his hands into the pockets of his brown trench coat. "I just wanted to hold your hand." Rolling her eyes, Lina looked back at him, still walking behind the criminal.

"Can't you last 10 seconds without touching me?"

"No." He honestly answered. Blushing, Lina opened her mouth to reply only to notice that Halshifom had stopped in front of her. She quickly took her revolver from her right hip holster and positioned it behind his head.

"We're here." The once-silent man spoke. Lina looked over his figure carefully and moved her eyes to the open area in front of her. Towering into the afternoon sky, there was a large 3-story stone mansion and between them, the bounty hunters eyes grew to see a graveyard, the size of a football field. It was obvious there was no caretaker for the graves since all were dug up and the top cover of the caskets were broken into. Lina and Gourry walked next to each other as they walked through the graveyard, grimacing at the rotting corpse of men, women, and children in the open caskets. Lina looked at Halshifom; the corpses had no effect on him.

"Who dug up these graves?" Gourry asked softly, his eyes flinched when he breathed into a smell of decaying human flesh and quickly covered his nose.

"It's the power of the Lithium." Halshifom said and stopped in the middle of the pathway, Lina and Gourry paused behind him. "This is its power." His hair fell off his shoulders when the wind picked up, his white laboratory coat moved as well. He turned his sight upon the stone statue standing up in the middle of the yard; it was of a naked woman with her hands lifting to the sky.

"I never heard of an energy source that can dig up dead bodies." Lina made a face when she saw a fresh corpse with maggots crawling out of the soft grey tissue.

"You irrelevant beings," Halshifom chuckled into the wind. "Would not understand the great capability of energy Lithium holds." He turned his head, resting his unyielding eyes upon the two weapon-carrying persons. A smirk developed on his face, making them wince.

"But you will see soon." He said so quietly whilst he continue walking towards the mansion. Lina and Gourry exchanged quick glances before following their prisoner. When they were just adjacent to the woman statue, Halshifom paused to stare emotionlessly at it and walk by without a single word. They were just about to leave the horrific setting when Halshifom stopped the moment his feet stepped out of the yard, Lina and Gourry came to a halt as well, only they were still inside of the graveyard.

"I used to be like you." The culprit whispered. He moved his body slowly around, making Lina raise her weapon between his eyes. Halshifom smiled gingerly as he faced his two opponents. "An irrelevant, optimistic, fool who dedicated his entire life in futile objectives for what he believed in and that his efforts and uphill struggle had a significant purpose." He shoved his hand into his pocket suddenly.

"Get your hand out. NOW." The gun slinger pulled back the hammer of her revolver. "Unless you WANT to see your brains splattered against the ground." She threatened. Halshifom just chuckled, his head shaking when he did.

"Fools." He obliged to her orders but only because he wanted to show off the remote that he had in his pocket.

"What is that? What's in your hand?" Lina glared, her grip tightened when he lifted his thumb to the red button on the remote. "DON'T FUCKING MOVE." She blasted a warning shot near his feet, stopping him from doing anything.

"NEXT TIME, I WON'T WASTE MY BULLET." She snarled. Halshifom released a soft chuckle.

"I thought you want to see the 12 girls?" His smirk grew wide when Lina and Gourry flinched. "Or was it 9?"

"You bastard!" Gourry charged at him. Lina gasped, she called after her partner to stop but Halshifom had pushed the button of the remote and threw it to the ground, destroying it into pieces. Gourry raised his steel blade over his head and swung at Halshifom, whom dodged the fast sword and kicked the young hunter in the stomach, flinging him to the ground next to Lina. She released the rest of her bullets at Halshifom's feet, trying to get him to stop running. When he finally did, he was standing in front of the large mansion.

"HALSHIFOM!" Lina picked Gourry to his feet and reloaded her revolver. "MY ORDERS ARE TO TAKE YOU IN ALIVE!" She placed her hand to her left hip. "BUT I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH TURNING YOU IN, BARELY ALIVE." Lina kept her stance until Halshifom slowly turned around. A wicked smile appeared on his face. Just when she saw his smile, pale hands erupted out of the ground and grabbed both of Lina's ankles, keeping her from moving.

"WHAT THE HELL?" She unleashed bullets near her feet. Releasing an agonizing high-pitch shriek, the hands let go of her and sink back into the ground. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"Lina." Gourry spoke her name, catching her attention. "You hear that?" He cringed to hear creaking noises coming from the dug up graves. "It sounds like… something is coming out of the graves." Expecting the worst, their backs pressed against one another, surveying the area around them as the mad scientist let out a teasing chuckle into the wind.

"Now," He sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, watching the two hunters panic. "Open your eyes and see the power of Lithium." Lina moved her eyes everywhere around her. The noises of wood breaking and soft emotionless moans filled her ears. Her heart beat grew fast and loud every second she listened to the growing moans.

"What is that?" She couldn't concentrate her eyes on one single thing. "What the FUCK is that?" Lina snarled. Then she felt Gourry pushed against her back with a sudden jerk, she turned her head over her shoulders and looked at what got him to jump. The two bounty hunters froze in their position, their eyes stayed still on the grave in front of Gourry. Rotten, decaying hands had reached the top of the freshly dug-up hole. With dried bones poking out from openings of failing skin, the moving entity hissed when it lifted to the afternoon air.

Rested since its death, the corpse turned its hollow eye sockets to Lina and Gourry, who couldn't believe what they were seeing. A dead person was lifting out of its grave on its own. It was Lina who made the first move. She shoved Gourry to the side and blasted her revolver into the corpse's head, only to make it release a loud screech. Lina switched out her revolver to her sawed-off shotgun that was strapped against her back. She loaded it with her own specially made rounds and shot the corpse in half. Lina turned her head when Gourry called her; she stared at what had gotten his full attention. Climbing out of their graves and stalking towards them, Lina saw more than a dozen corpses around them.

"This is impossible, right?" Gourry watched as an undead person let out a horrible shriek and limp to him. He looked at his partner. "Lina, this is all a trick, right?" Lina moved her eyes to each moving dead body coming towards her. The shotgun in her hands slightly trembled. Growling, she turned her head to the man responsible but he was walking away, laughing as he did so. In a fast movement, Lina unlatched her pouch at her hip and swiped three ruby-colored daggers, shaped as arrows.

With great accuracy, she chucked two steel daggers into the man's back, striking him like lightning bolts. Halshifom fell to one knee, squirts of blood pushed out from the sharp edges of the ragged steel. When he tried to stand up, Lina targeted his hand. He released a painful screech when the third blade struck the back of his hand, pinning him into the stone porch of his mansion. Halshifom grabbed the dagger by the handle but failed to pull it out; he looked back at Lina with a murderous glare. She smirked and puckered her lips at him.

"Stay and watch the fight." Lina snickered. Taking another dagger from her collection, she held it against her forearm while putting her shotgun away.

"How much, Gourry?"

"Four dozen." Gourry noted. He and Lina carefully looked at the surrounding undead, keeping an equal distance away from all of them. Lina snorted.

"I don't have a lot of rounds left so I'll be the diversion." She moved away from Gourry.

"I'll lend you my back." He smiled. They both nodded and in an instant, Lina turned swiftly around and rushed at her partner, Gourry bent his body slightly forward and held his position. Stepping on Gourry's back, Lina leaped into the air by jumping off his shoulders. She flew over the growing crowd and landed gracefully on her feet, grabbing the attention of more than half of the zombies. Leaving Gourry, Lina ran to the other side of the graveyard, stabbing and slashing whenever she got a chance.

As time passed, she found herself being surrounded and switched to her shotgun. Blowing holes into every dead face she sees, Lina saw the woman statue nearby and climbed to the top of the tall gargoyle, where the corpses were unable to reach her delicious body. The huntress looked across the yard to her partner, he was almost finished slicing his crowd of opponents. In the meantime, she returned her shotgun to her body and began shooting to any corpse that got close enough to touching her feet with her two revolvers.

"Dammit!" Lina shook the last of her bullets out of the chamber and glared at the mass collection of undead at the bottom of the statue. She had no more rounds for her revolvers. All she had left were 4 rounds for her shotgun and 15 piercing bullets for her sniper rifle. How was she going to get out of here alive with just a small supply of rounds when there is an army of the undead reaching out to eat her? Slapping the palm of her hand to her forehead, Lina hated the fact that she had to sit to the side and rely on Gourry, it made her feel weak. She sighed, only to release a loud curse word when one of the zombies grabbed at her ankle and she kicked its face away. As if someone was hearing her thoughts, Lina turned her head around when she heard a loud cry that belonged to a horse. Riding on horseback with his blade sticking out on one side, Zelgadiss guided his horse into the graveyard.

"Zel!" Lina cheered from the top of the statue, her arms waved in the air. Chopping off heads of the undead, Zelgadiss rode the large animal to where Lina was located and jumped off; his horse sprinted away in a flash. Swinging his steel blade at every direction, he cut every monster within sight into pieces. Cutting the last one down, Zelgadiss returned his blade into its sheath while Lina jumped off and landed next to him. "How'd you find us?"

"I heard the gun shots." He answered quickly and reached into his coat. "It's not your blend of bullets but it's something." He threw her a large sack of regular revolver rounds. "You also might need this." Zelgadiss took out Lina's ultimate creation, the Dragon Slave, from his inner jacket pocket.

"You are a lifesaver." She strapped the large barrel gun to its rightful place on the side of her leg. They were soon joined by Gourry, who had victoriously got the rest of the zombies. Zelgadiss scanned his eyes over the fallen corpses; his black bandanna covered his nose and mouth to block off the horrible decaying smell.

"How did this happen?" He asked sternly, not an ounce of shock in his voice.

"Lithium." Lina answered, she was lifting her own white bandanna cloth over her nose. The three of them looked over the terrible mess and exchanged looks.

"Let's go to that messed up, son-of-a-bitch and find out what the fuck just happened." Leading the pack, she and Gourry were careful to not step on any body parts whilst Zelgadiss didn't care when he crushed a head into pieces. Lina released a loud groan when she spotted the front porch empty.

"That fucking guy is so persistent!" She looked over the large pool of blood and dragging marks he created on the porch. Following the blood trail, they went through the front door of the mansion with their weapons out. It wasn't long until they spotted him; he was crouched in the middle of the room, his back turned towards them. The three hunters stared at the panting scientist, he was sitting in a large pool of blood and the two daggers were still in his back.

"Halshifom." Zelgadiss tucked his bandanna down. "You are under arrest for kidnapping charges-"

"SURRENDER NOW OR I WILL ACCIDENTALLY PULL THIS TRIGGER TO THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD." Lina held the end of the revolver to his head. The culprit just stayed quiet, his breathing getting louder and heavier. Getting rather annoyed by his silence, Lina stepped forward, breaking the distance between them.

"My significant purpose." He finally spoke, stopping Lina from getting closer. "It cost the life of an innocent person." Halshifom released a weak chuckle and shook his head. "A woman."

"A… woman?" Lina repeated carefully. Her eyes lowered when the scientist's hands tighten into a fist, she motioned her partners for cover and they obliged.

"Dearest Rubia." Halshifom said in a low, rough voice. As Gourry crept to the left and Zelgadiss went to the right of Halshifom's side, Lina kept her position behind him. "She believed in my beliefs, in my purpose, and in me." Slowly, his face cringed, his eyes eventually glaring at the marble floor beneath him. "She promised to be by my side, to hold and care, to love and make love, for me, and only me."

"Then," His chest began to raise quickly, his breathing getting heavier and faster. "My life killed her. It stabbed her repeatedly in the heart, raping her of her soul, and taking away the only thing she had left, her life. She used her last breath to smile upon me and confess her dying devotion for me and only me." Unable to lay his eyes on anything, Halshifom raised his head and turned it around to Lina, who was staring at him with widen eyes.

"She died, don't you understand?" His voice was now just a mere whisper. "She died because of me." Lina moved her eyes slightly off him, disturbed from his sad tale of his lover. He let out a soft scoff and lowered his head again.

"But… I found a way." Lina looked back at him quickly when Halshifom suddenly released a low chuckle which slowly built up into a sadistic and hysterical laughter. He brought his body back as he roared a loud laugh that shook the ground beneath them. The grip of her revolver tightened, Lina watched as the once-sane man laughed in front of her. Eventually, his laughter died down and he hung his face low, his bloody left hand barely covering his twisted face. He didn't care that his face was getting painted by blood.

"I found a way." A wicked smile slipped open on his distorted expression. His body shook uncontrollably and his head jerked from side to side. Then he looked up at Gourry, who winced to see his face. It showed regretful pain and sorrowful grieve, an expression that only love can create when it had been taken away too soon. Noticing Gourry's changed facade, Zelgadiss rushed at the mad man, his revolver pressed against Halshifom's temple.

"Didn't you hear me earlier, bastard?" He grunted. "You are a wanted criminal and we're taking you to prison for the rest of your miserable life. I suggest you shut the fuck up and come with us quietly," The hammer to Zelgadiss's triple barrel revolver was pulled back, making a soft click. "Or I will." Halshifom just turn his face to him, his wicked smile grew.

"I found a way," He repeated again and lifted to his feet hesitantly. "I found a way to get her back, you see." Stumbling towards him, Zelgadiss took a few steps back until he was standing nearby Lina, Halshifom's hands still placed over his broken bitter face. "By using Lithium, I can get Rubia back from the dead and it would be like she never left me."

"That's impossible." Lina snarled. "You can't bring anything back to life if the soul has moved on." Chuckling at her, Halshifom shook his head. He watched Gourry as he went to Lina's side; he looked at the three hunters together.

"See, that's why you're all insignificant beings. You do not understand the magnitude of this power." Then, his crooked eyes slightly closed. "But I do." Suddenly, the tile floor beneath them was swiped away. Catching the edge of the drop, the bottom half of Lina's body dangled in the trap hole while her other half cling to the smooth marble floors. She tried to pull herself up but her arms struggled from the immense weight and the smooth texture, she looked down the hole and winced.

"Don't you FUCKING let go!" Zelgadiss shouted. He and Gourry were holding onto her ankles, their heavy bodies dangling next to hers. Gourry released a loud whine to see nothing but darkness beneath their feet.

"I don't want to die!" He yelped. "DON'T LET GO, LINA!" Already dripping in sweat, Lina clung to the edge with all her might. She looked up when Halshifom limped over to her folded arms; he bent his body forward and grabbed the specially-made revolver that she dropped.

"Unusual gun." He muttered as he inspected it. She growled when he popped the barrel out and checked the bullets. "Made from a combination of titanium alloy and gold." Halshifom looked over Lina's excruciating expression. "You know your metals."

"I'm a gunslinger at heart, dagger specialist in soul, and a master metal bender." She released a loud yelp when Gourry slipped due to her leather pants and Zelgadiss caught him by his wrist, making Lina nearly lose her grip on the edge. "STAY STILL, DAMMIT!" The redhead screamed at her passengers. She cursed loudly the moment she heard a clicking sound of her revolver, she faced the end of her own barrel pointing at the middle of her forehead.

"I should kill you and get you out of my hair." Halshifom chuckled evilly. Lina glanced at the large puddle of blood he was creating under his feet and back at his sadistic face.

"But," He lowered the gun and moved his foot on top of her folded arms. "I'd rather hear your dying screams."

"Dying screams, huh?" Lina scoffed with a smirk. "Be careful what you wish for. It might not come true."

"Well, I will gladly see to it that it does." Halshifom snickered and kicked her arms off but Lina caught herself again by her fingertips, she growled at the tremendous weight on her three fingertips. Coming closer to the edge and into view, Zelgadiss released a bullet from his barrel and shot the mad scientist in his shoulder. Halshifom screeched in the powerful pain and fell backwards, his blood splashing everywhere on the marble floor.

"Don't let go, Lina!" Gourry started climbing up her body. "I'm almost there!"

"I can't…" One finger left the edge. "I-I can't…" Lina whimpered. Sensing her strength leaving from her fingertips and Gourry was nowhere near the top; Zelgadiss looked down at the darkness below him and sighed. He shoved his gun into his hip holster and tugged his coat tightly around him. Fuck, he hated being a fucking hero.

"I'll survive." He suddenly said aloud. Lina and Gourry's eyes widen at his statement and looked at him. Smirking, Zelgadiss broke his hold on Lina's ankle and fell straight down in to the thick darkness.

"ZEL!" Lina screamed and her fingertips gave up on her. In time, Gourry made it to the edge and caught Lina by the wrist before she joined Zelgadiss. Gourry easily tossed Lina's tired body over the edge and pulled himself up. Once out of the trap safe and sound, Lina and Gourry looked into the dark hole and called out for their comrade. "ZEL!"

"ZEL, ARE YOU ALIVE?" Gourry shouted. No response. Exchanging looks, they were about to express loudly to one another that their friend and partner have finally met his end until they heard a soft echo that sounded like profanity.

"ZEL? IS THAT YOU?" Lina breathed easily when she heard another echo and raised her arms above her head. "DAMMIT, ZEL! DIDN'T YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM LAST TIME? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE CONCEPT OF TEAMWORK?" She began to scold him.

"YOU THINK YOU ARE A HERO NOW FOR SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR THE GOOD OF THE TEAM? NO! YOU ARE JUST AN IDIOT WHO IS TRAPPED IN A FUCKING BASEMENT!"

"Shut up… Flat chest…" She heard the echo say.

"DON'T MAKE ME FUCKING BLAST THIS DRAGON SLAVE, YOU ASSHOLE!" As Lina continued to scream at her third teammate, Gourry was searching around the floor.

"Hey, Lina, that bad guy is gone again." He told her when he didn't see Halshifom. Lina quickly spun her head around and released a loud groan. Behind her was just pools of blood and drag marks that led away from the room, Lina turned her head to the hole.

"HALSHIFOM IS GONE! GOURRY AND I ARE GOING TO FIND HIM! GET YOURSELF OUT OF THERE QUICK AND FIND US AFTERWARDS!" She ordered and left the trap's edge. Lina picked up her main revolver that Halshifom had touched with his bloody hands and shoved it into her holster. Instead, she picked her second gun on her other hip and loaded it with bullets.

"Alright, Gourry. We are officially NOT following orders anymore."

"Were we ever?" He questioned but Lina didn't hear him.

"I want this guy dead." She exclaimed as she pushed the filled chamber into her revolver. "Nobody fucks around with me and gets the fuck away." Lina snarled and began following the trail of blood leading out the room. Sighing, Gourry scratched the back of his head and calmly let after her. It's times like this when it's best to keep his idiot mouth shut. You never know what will happen to you if Lina is in a pissy mood.

* * *

Zelgadiss turned around in the corner and calmly walked in the dark, his hands were tucked into his coat pocket. He walked quietly, turning his sights only when he saw something move. He must've been walking continuously in the dark for a few minutes before hearing the other pair of footsteps joining his. His head moved to one shoulder, allowing his eyes to glance behind him unknowingly. Not noticing his action, the unknown person behind him continued to move behind him, keeping a good distance between them. Zelgadiss's eyes squinted slightly; he moved his head back while maintaining his calm walking speed. Seeing there was a turn he had to make up ahead, Zelgadiss removed his hand out of his pocket and slipped it into his coat to his shoulder holster. He picked his revolver out and kept it close to his body. He turned the corner and quickly pressed himself to the wall, positioning his gun close to his face. Waiting patiently for the unknown person, he listened to the footsteps as it got closer and closer. Clicking the hammer back on his revolver, Zelgadiss jumped in front of the individual once she came to his sights, the end of the barrel pressed against her forehead.

"Move and you're dead." The person said nothing but just raised her hands. It was too dark to see who she was but Zelgadiss could tell it was a young woman and she was very petite. Shoving her hard to the wall, he kept his gun at the back of her head as his free hand patted her body down. He ignored her soft whining when his hand rubbed down her thin legs and up her inner naked thighs, but he stopped the moment his hand touched her stomach since she began to squirm.

"Did you not hear what I said?" He dug the end of the barrel to her hair. "Move and you're dead." The woman nodded with a soft whimper and kept her body still for him to inspect. That was when he noticed that the woman in his midst was VERY familiar. TOO familiar. Running his hand up her sides, he knew exactly who she was the moment her trembling body spasm when he stopped his hand right below her chest. Amelia whimpered. She was quickly regretting disobeying everyone. She never thought she would be held up against her will and a sick, disgusting pervert will touch her young virgin body. This isn't what she thought being a bounty huntress was like! Suddenly, the gun lifted off her head. Her eyes widen when the man's hand left her stomach and moved to her shoulder, he pulled her off the wall. Sighing, Zelgadiss wasn't surprised that she followed but was a little disappointed that she did.

"Amelia." He spoke. Amelia jumped at the familiar voice. Now, she knew who it was. Beads of sweat began to fall from her brow. If she thought she was in trouble before, she was in BIG trouble now.

"U-Uh," She stuttered. "Yes, Zelgadiss-San?"

"You are a fool." He said bluntly. Amelia giggled nervously and nodded.

"I know." She turned around and faced him with vibrant eyes. "But Zelgadiss-San, I just wanted to help!"

"And die in the process?" Amelia bit her tongue and kept quiet. He was obviously disappointed in her. Lowering her head, she stared at the minimum space between them, an apprehensive feeling developed around them. After a few minutes of silence and listening to her quivering breath, Zelgadiss bent his neck and dropped his head on her shoulder, their faces next to each others. Amelia smiled at this and her fear of losing her friend's trust had soon disappeared.

Never able to ask for forgiveness for anything because of his proud and insensitive pride, Zelgadiss always prefer to show Amelia, and only Amelia, that he was remorseful and apologetic by placing his head on her shoulder and not saying another word. In that tense moment, it quickly turned to him apologizing silently for being so rough on her. In return, she would tilt her head to him, making the tips of her hair touch his neck and nothing more. It showed him that she was sorry too and hopefully, she won't do it again. His heart skipped a beat when Amelia released a cheering sigh of relief and her hands moved to his chest, placing them flat and secure. Despite them being lost in a dark basement that had long passageways and there was a crazy lunatic on the loose, Zelgadiss couldn't help but shut his eyes and savor this quiet loving moment he rarely had with Amelia. She smelt like vanilla and other beautiful things, he concluded.

The moment finally passed when they heard a loud noise nearby, his head instantly lifted off her shoulder and immediately took his revolver out. With Amelia here, he couldn't be as reckless as he wanted to be. Zelgadiss glanced at her carefully, she was looking around the dark and it was clear that she was frightened. He took her hand in his, making her turn her eyes to him. Unable to find the words to explain, he just stared with eyes filled of distress and worry. She seemed to understand since she closed the gap between their hands and nodded. Holding hands tightly, Zelgadiss led them through the dark tunnel with his mind on two things. One, he needs to find a way out. Two, he needs to find a way out so he can get Amelia to safety.

* * *

They have followed the blood trail into the living room in which, to Halshifom's favor, the trail went cold. Figuring he was nearby but still heavily injured, Lina and Gourry split apart to look for him. Whilst, Gourry looked to the kitchen and outside, Lina checked the bedrooms. Checking every room, she went to the last bedroom and kicked down the door. She stood in the doorway and moved her eyeballs across the room. It looked like the master bedroom because of the large windows and expensive furniture. Stepping inside silently, Lina kept her finger on the trigger of her shotgun; she kept it steady next to her body until she stopped in the middle of the room. Nobody was in there except herself; she released her breath and called for Gourry. Once she got a reply from him, Lina began to investigate the room. She found dust and cobwebs in every crevice, her tongue spilled out of her mouth when she saw dead rats in the closet. Closing the closet, she turned her body to the large bed and spotted a framed photograph on the small bed stand.

"He's not in the kitchen or outside." Gourry arrived to the room. He spotted Lina standing next to the bed, her shotgun dangling next to her body. She was staring intently at something in her hand. "Lina?" Gourry called her and she turned around.

"She's beautiful, Gourry." The redhead raised the picture frame in the air.

"Who is?"

"Rubia." Lina tossed the photo to him and he caught it. In the black and white photo, there was a younger version of Halshifom in his laboratory coat standing over a woman in a simple white dress sitting in a wooden chair; they both had a gentle smile plastered on their faces. Gourry lowered the photo and looked at Lina; she was now scratching her head with the end of her shotgun, an irritated expression on her face.

"He goes crazy over the death of his girlfriend," She began and paced around the room. "He finds a way to get her back to life with the use of the Lithium, just like how he got all those dead people back to life." Lina stopped in front of Gourry and pouted.

"So, he knew how to get Rubia back," She paused and stroked her chin. "Why the hell did he have to kidnap those 12 girls?" Gourry shrugged his shoulders; he gave the photo back to Lina whom stared at the photo again. Her eyes squinted angrily as she kept staring at the once happy couple.

"Gourry?"

"Yeah, Lina?"

"If something happens to me," Lina walked to the bed stand and placed the photo back to its original spot. "Promise me you won't ever blame yourself nor do anything stupid."

"What are you talking about, Lina?" He chuckled softly. "Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm there to protect you." Still, Lina was left worried.

"At least promise me that when I die, you won't grovel over my death and continue to live your remaining life without me." She said without looking at him. Gourry stared at her back until he lowered his eyes and sighed.

"I won't." He answered. A smile appeared on Lina's face and she turned around to face him, Gourry's eyebrows lifted to see such a happy expression.

"Thanks, Gourry. I won't either." She said with a soft blush. Eventually, he smiled back and nodded. Their heads spun around and weapons leaped into their hands when they heard a horrible screech erupt in the mansion. The two bounty hunters rushed out of the room and followed where they thought the scream came from. Another scream followed but it was different from the first one. Racing up the spiral staircase to the top floor where they found spots of blood splattered on the marble floor in front of a slightly open door and a third scream. Lina and Gourry walked around the blood and with the tip of her foot, the redhead quietly pushed the door wider. It was the door to the attic above. She poked her head in first and looked at the long wooden staircase that led to another door. She and Gourry jumped to heard a forth scream, it was definitely coming from the attic. Taking a very deep breath, Lina looked at Gourry and he looked at her. Nodding to each other now, the two bounty hunters sprinted up the stairs and kicked down the door to the large attic room.


	5. Chapter 05 For You

Chapter 05 - For You

The bounty huntress dropped to her bloody knees, her body fell forward but her palms caught her before she hit the marble floor. Coughing loudly, she could taste the iron flowing out of her mouth, the red liquid splashed below her as she continued to choke for air.

Nearby, her partner was struggling against his opponents; he dodged the bullets and razor blades but was still cornered in the room. He called out to her, yelling her name to keep her awake. Unable to speak, Lina released a gurgling noise from behind her throat and tilted her head to the young woman who stood over her.

Her glossy maroon eyes had a blank blanket covering them. There was no meaning or emotions in them. The woman stared at her with her lips partially open; the extensive black stitching across her forehead matched the stitches that ran down one edge of her mouth to the center of her chest. Lina drifted her eyes down her newly reconstructed body that was collected from 12 guinea pigs, she shook her head. The woman's lover laughed hysterically next to them, he placed a hand over her flat naked stomach and laid his lips on her temple.

"This is Lithium." Halshifom whispered as he breathed into the woman's long red hair. Spinning her around, he shoved his mouth over her lips, kissing her long and hard while she just stood there willingly and silent.

"Now," He pulled his lips off and glared murderously at the fallen Bounty Huntress in front of his feet. Lina's eyes twitched when he lowered a revolver and pressed it at the base of her forehead, she heard Gourry release a horrible, death-wrenching scream. "YOU DIE."

~*~ 15 minutes earlier ~*~

"HALSHIFOM!" The bleeding culprit lifted his head and smirked at the confident and threatening voice. "GIVE YOURSELF UP OR YOU ARE DEAD!" Lina screamed from the doorway of the attic, her revolver aimed straight at the back of his head. With both eyes on him, she didn't notice what she got herself into until Gourry gasped next to her.

"Lina… look." He said with a whisper. Deciding to whether to look and lose her sights on Halshifom, she finally moved her eyes around the room. Lina stopped breathing the moment she saw the bloody mess. They were in an operating room with white walls and floors; there were operating tables around the room. Lying on the operating tables were remains of naked young women, cut into pieces or bodies split open. Lina's eyes stared at one woman nearest to her, she had a big and long cut that started above her womanhood and ran through her abdomen and breasts, and it stopped just before splitting her throat open. Her organs were clearly missing and lots of her blood was still dripping from the table.

Lina's ruby eyes shook at the horrendous sight. The young woman looked like she was in her twenties and judging from how her legs and arms were sprawled over the edge of the operating table, the woman was cut open while she was alive and it wasn't too long ago. They stared at the scene for what seemed like hours but only a few seconds passed by until Halshifom chuckled softly, thankfully breaking their gaze.

"Impressed at my work?" He turned around and showed the front side of his body. Covered in red from head to toe, Halshifom held the same operating tools he used to cut open the women. Taking a few steps back, Lina placed a hand over her mouth and held her stomach.

"I think I'm going to be sick." She muttered before releasing several coughs. Gourry just kept his head hung, he said nothing. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, the huntress panted heavily and swallowed a wad of spit down her throat, keeping her stomach from throwing up any food. "You freak."

"Oh, but you haven't seen my best work yet." He took a step to the side and allowed the hunters to see what he was adversely working so hard on. Lying in a see-through glass casket was a nude woman. They're eyes grew twice as big to see stitches running horizontally and vertically across her entire body. Every body part, every curve, every crevice was a one or more pieces that Halshifom had successfully cut from the kidnapped women and stitched it together to make one person. One woman.

"You sick bastard." The redheaded woman snapped. "You kidnapped innocent girls for their body parts and for what? To create the perfect woman? YOU ARE FUCKING SICK!"

"She's not perfect," Halshifom glanced at his Frankenstein masterpiece and sighed lovingly. "But she will be in a few minutes."

"What are you talking about?"

"I didn't have enough Lithium so I was counting on you foolish hunters to bring it after you killed my previous partner, Joe. Unfortunately, that never happened." He turned his body towards the encased woman and wrapped his weak arms around the glass, blood continued to drip down his collective wounds. "But to my surprise, when you three killed off my entire army of the undead, the Lithium rejuvenated to its original state."

"Fuck." He used them again, only this time to achieve his key objective.

"Soon," Halshifom placed his face against the glass and sighed happily. "Soon, she will be back."

"NOT IF I CAN'T HELP IT." Lina raised her revolver to the glass case and released all the bullets in her chamber. The bullets struck the thick glass but it wasn't able to penetrate through it. Halshifom hissed angrily at her action, he pulled away from the case and rushed to the operating table closest to him. Shoving the dead woman's body off the table, Halshifom flipped over the table and swiped a remote control that he had hidden there.

"Gourry!" Lina noticed him and continued to shoot at the glass case.

"Got it!" He raced over to the heavily wounded scientist and fought with him over the black remote box. Gourry managed to take the remote control from his hand and shove him to the ground, only to slip in the pools of blood everywhere. Lina tossed the used rounds out of her bullet chamber and snarled to see that she was unable to get through the glass.

Switching to the sniper rifle, she angled the crosshairs to the one spot that the glass was thin enough. Halshifom gasped when a loud snap echoed the room from the rifle, the glass cracked evenly throughout.

"One more and she's going to remain dead." The redhead lowered the rifle and unlocked the bullet compartment, she shoved a sharp long round inside and locked it in.

"No!" Halshifom cried out. He spotted the remote control he and Gourry were fighting over a while ago and lunged for it. Gourry sat up from the floor, holding his head and looked around him. He saw Halshifom holding the black control box and reached out to stop him but he had already pushed it. Gourry and Halshifom's eyes widen when a loud shot was heard. Suddenly, Lina fell to the ground.

"LINA!" Expecting the worst, Gourry raced to her side and picked her off the ground. He looked her over and saw no blood anywhere, he curled his eyebrows when Lina painfully growled and spilled tons of profanity.

"DAMMIT, THAT FUCKING HURT!" She reached around to the side of her body and patted down her black vest. There, a crushed bullet fell out and rolled slightly on the ground. Getting out of Gourry's arms, she held her right rib cage and snarled.

"FUCK. Who shot me?" She scanned around the room. Thank L-Sama for her vest. If she wasn't wearing her black vest jacket with special diamond and tungsten fibers, she would've been dead a long time ago.

"Lina, you're okay?"

"I'm fine." She winced at the sharp pain. "Only a few broken ribs but I'm not dead yet."

"You will be soon." Halshifom replied. About to say a nasty comment back, Lina and Gourry immediately turned their heads when they heard footsteps behind them.

Groaning with blood spilling from the open slits in her skin, it was one of the kidnapped girls. She had a smoking gun in her hand and it was pointed crookedly at Lina. Stumbling with shaking feet, the woman released a loud screech and pulled back the trigger. In a split second, Gourry unsheathed his sword and using the blade made of steel, the bullet ricochet off and returned to the gun shooter. The bullet struck the woman in between her eyes and she fell backwards into her own pool of decaying blood.

They heard more groans and moans from everywhere around them and pressed their backs against each other. Lina kept her hand over her bruised side, an angry growl left her lips to see the mutilated and disfigured women carrying revolvers and razor blades. As if they weren't already in a bigger bind, she heard the glass case unlock suddenly.

"Yes." Halshifom stepped away from the glass coffin and spread his arms wide. "YES!" He yelled out when the woman inside opened her eyes, her maroon eyes stared blankly at Halshifom and then to Lina and Gourry.

"Oh, fucking L-Sama." She snarled and yelped loudly when the zombies lunged forward with a sharp razor. Stabbing her own dagger to the back of their heads and blasting away on her revolver, Lina gasped to see the see through cover was pushed open and the woman stepped outside into the air, wires still attached to her skin.

"NOT HERE, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!" She threw one of her dagger across the room, in despite of being in range of one of the moving corpses' barrel. The room echoed with one loud shot and the dagger struck loudly into a body. But, Lina's eyes twitched, it wasn't the body she wanted. Halshifom panted heavily in front of his masterpiece with a third dagger in his back, he excruciatingly lifted his head to stare upon the finally awoken woman. His eyes widen as she stared at him, her face never changing.

"Ru… Rubia." He whispered her name. The woman just watched him with a blank stare. Meanwhile, Gourry pressed himself behind a stone pillar with a large crowd of undead women shooting at him. He noticed Lina just standing in the middle of the attic, she was staring at Halshifom and Rubia intently. Dropping his sights, his eyes widen to see blood collecting at the bottom of her feet.

Unbeknownst to him, when she threw the dagger at Rubia, a bullet was shot at her and struck her in the slim opening of her vest, into her non-protective stomach. Slowly with trembling fingers, she took her hand off her stomach and raised it to her face. Blood coated over her entire hand.

"LINA!" Gourry screamed and tried to leave his post but the corpses continued to shoot at him. "LINA!" He kept calling her name even though he couldn't see her. Lina released a soft scoff and dropped to her knees.

~*~ Present ~*~

"Now," Halshifom glared murderously at the fallen bounty huntress in front of his feet. Lina's eyes twitched when he lowered a revolver and pressed it at the base of her forehead, she heard Gourry release a horrible, death-wrenching scream. Funny, she never thought she would die like this. Die over something ridiculous like love. Hearing the click from Halshifom's revolver, Lina sighed softly and in that split second, she glanced to the side and her eyes widen. "YOU DIE-"

"JUSTICE KICK!" Amelia screamed when she brought her strong leg over her head and launched a powerful leg drop at Halshifom's arm, breaking his arm in half. He shrieked at the surprise attack and the gun in his hand was released. Amelia caught it in the air just as she landed between Lina and him. Without a second to back away, she caught Halshifom's broken arm by the wrist and held him close as she commence a thousand punches into his gut.

"A-Amelia?" Lina gawked, surprised and fairly glad that she was here. She turned her head when she heard loud gun shots being released behind her and smiled to see Zelgadiss shooting the remaining zombies around Gourry. "About time."

"Better late than never." Zelgadiss commented and shoved his smoking guns into his holster. When she finally felt his body grow limp, Amelia pushed Halshifom away from her with a shove and thrust her tightly-made fist at his chin, giving him a jaw-breaking uppercut and sending him flying a few feet back.

"Fiend." Amelia snorted loudly and shook her tiny hands in the air. "This is why JUSTICE always prevails." Seeing Lina's terrible status, she rushed to her side and joined her hands over her wound, successfully stopping the blood. While Gourry held Lina in his arms, Zelgadiss and Amelia stood up and watched Halshifom trying to get to his feet.

"If you want to live, you will stay down." Zelgadiss already had his gun pointing at him. Halshifom panted breathlessly, he cringed at his failing body and tried to get off the ground. Unable too, he dropped to his side with his body facing his lovely creation. Rubia stared at his dying form. Eventually, she started to move. "Don't move-"

"Wait, Zel." Lina stopped him. "Don't." She whispered. The four friends watched in silence as the Frankenstein woman went to her lover's side and knelt down. She picked him off the ground and to her lap, wrapping her arms around his upper body. Halshifom tilted his head to her blank face, he stared at her beautiful and yet, disfigured face and cupped her face with a shaking hand.

"Rubia," He scanned her face. "I… I did this. For you."

"She's dead, Halshifom." Lina said aloud. He looked at the injured huntress. "She's been dead for a long time, over two decades ago. She's not going to come back-"

"But she did! She came back! Look! Here she is!" Halshifom rubbed her stitched up face and smiled. "My Rubia."

"Is she really your Rubia or just 12 random girls who had a distinct attribute that looked like her?" She asked. Still touching her face, Halshifom winced to see the nothingness in her maroon eyes and he looked away. When he didn't say anything back, Lina motioned Gourry to stand up and he did, carrying her in his arms.

"Come on, guys." She called to Amelia and Zelgadiss. "We're leaving."

"But, Lina-San, the mission-"

"Forget the mission." Glancing at the dying scientist and his dead lover, Lina smirked and ordered Gourry to keep walking. "Let's hurry home or I'm going to bleed to death."

"Yeah, and let's take the LONG way home like you did with me." Zelgadiss muttered.

"Oh, come on, it was all jokes, Zel. Lighten up!" As the four left the attic, Halshifom turned his head when she bent her head and touched their foreheads together. Although she had no life in her eyes, had no feeling of remorse or happiness, a small smile developed on her face that caused Halshifom to hold his breath.

"Dear," She spoke finally and oh, she sounded just like how she did before. "Let's go home too."

"R-Rubia…" Tears began to leak out of his eyes. Rubia released a soft laugh and caressed his cheek, her tears joined with his.

"Let's be happy again." Reaching over, she picked off two guns from the floor and placed one in his hand while she kept the other. Halshifom stared at her sorrowful plea and his heart broke into tremendous pieces. Moving the end of the gun barrel to her temple, Rubia pressed her gun to the side of his head.

"I'm sorry for making you wait for me, Rubia." The weight on his shoulders suddenly disappeared and his heart skipped a few beats, he was finally able to smile like he did before. "I love you." As they shared one last kiss together, Rubia sighed when their lips left each others.

"I'll be waiting."

Lina and Gourry spun their heads around when the gun shots echoed the entire mansion. They kept still as they listened for awhile. Sighing, Lina met with Gourry's eyes and smirked.

"They are together now." She told him. Gourry smiled at her response and nodded. Still carrying Lina in his arms, Gourry stepped outside of the stone mansion and breathed a sigh of ease when he entered the late afternoon light.

"I guess it's time to go home now." Gourry turned his head when Amelia let out a loud groan.

"Was that it? That was all the action? I didn't even get to shoot my gun!" The tiny woman waved her arms.

"If you had come out of hiding earlier, you would've been in the middle of the action." Zelgadiss snorted, Amelia just pouted. "And what's this about a GUN?"

"Gun?" Large droplets of sweat flooded from her face. "W-What gun?"

"AMELIA." Zelgadiss shoved an open palm to her face. "GIVE IT."

"Ohhhhh!" She bounced angrily and lifted the ends of her loose dress material up her naked thigh. Flashing just the edges of her panties to get the black holster pack strapped around her upper thigh, a spark of annoyance broke in Lina's head when she noticed Gourry lean his head forward to get a better look and a big blush appeared on Zelgadiss's face.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP THINGS UNDER YOUR DRESS?" With a swing of her arm, Lina bonked Amelia on the head, making her drop the tiny gun from her hand.

"Lina-San… That hurt." She whined and held her head. While Lina pulled at Gourry's cheek, yanking it a good yard's worth, Zelgadiss took the tiny gun from the ground and pushed it into his own pocket.

"You will get this back when you earn it."

"And when will that be?"

"When I die."

"BUT, ZELGADISS-SAAAAAAAAN, THAT'S NO FAIR TO AMELIA-CHAN!"

"Deal with it." And thus, that was what Lina and Gourry explained in their report to Filia, and when they asked how much they were going to receive for this hunt, she replied with a sweet smile.

"How are you going to get an ounce of the reward money if there is no body to claim?" Pouring another cup of tea for herself, Filia giggled softly as her duo hunters ran out of the kitchen, not caring that one of them was still bleeding to death. Their mind set only on retrieving a dead body that is currently decomposing in a mansion drizzled with blood. Filia sighed and took a sip of her drink. Good help is so hard to find nowadays. As the beautiful blonde sipped in her kitchen, she didn't notice the purple-haired man wearing foreign clothes looking into her kitchen window. He smirked and strolled away with his black slick cane twirling next to his body.


	6. Chapter 06 Kitten Alliance

Chapter 06 - Kitten Alliance

Lina turned her head to the door. Her hearing intensified as the voices on the other side of her room door spoke softly to each other. After her ordeal with an army of dead people and acquiring a terrible gunshot wound, she was given a well-deserved break from hunting, allowing her to rest and spend the upcoming days tightening her accuracy and think of new metal combinations for her Dragon Slave. Normally, she would be happy with this compromise but when two high risk criminals escape from prison the moment they arrived home, Filia ordered her two stooges to go after them and without their team leader. When the doorknob to her room jiggled open, Lina turned her body to the wall and buried deep into the thick blankets.

"Oh, she's sleeping." She heard Amelia whisper first, there was a scuffle of clothes moving against each other. "Let's let her sleep. I'll inform her where you two have gone in the morning."

"If it's alright," Gourry spoke. "Can we leave in an hour? I want to say goodnight to Lina." Lina's face burned red and hot but kept silent. Before Zelgadiss could deny his request, Amelia shoved him to the side and smiled at the worried swordsman.

"Of course, you can, Gourry-San."

"Thanks, Amelia." Gourry nodded and opened the door for them. When the door locked behind them, Zelgadiss gave Amelia an annoyed look.

"I thought these criminals were terrible people who needed to be caught right away."

"Of course they are." She replied.

"Then we should leave now to risk any chance of losing their trail."

"Zelgadiss-San," Amelia sighed with a shaking head. "When are you going to learn? There are more important things than catching criminals."

"That statement coming from you is unorthodox." He snorted and crossed his arms. "Tell me, what is more important than being a Justice fighter?"

"That's simple." The raven-haired woman giggled, she gave him a great big smile that made Zelgadiss's heart jump. "It's love, silly." Staring at her large smile with a stoic expression, Zelgadiss finally released a loud snort and turned his head away.

"You are a bigger fool than I thought." He remarked and started down the hallway.

"Oh, Zelgadiss-San!" She shouted after him and threw an angry tantrum. As she raised her arms and barked at him about the importance of love, Amelia didn't see the rekindling spark in his eyes that resembled a lot like the spark that Gourry had for Lina. Meanwhile, Lina had her face pressed against Gourry's naked neck. Moving her head upward, she met with his navy cool eyes.

"When are you leaving?" She whispered.

"In an hour." He moved his left arm around her tiny shoulders and rubbed his callus hands down her bicep to her elbow. Staring at her face, a sudden frown slipped on his face. "I'm sorry you can't come."

"It's understandable." Lina placed her head back on his shoulder. "I'm still recovering from my wound."

"Yeah but I'm still sorry."

"Just forget about it." She sighed. They laid in each other's arms for a few silent seconds, Gourry's rough hand still rubbing back and forth on her bicep. Not wanting to waste another second, Lina and Gourry opened their mouths and simultaneously said something but stopped to let the other finish. Chuckling at their sudden hesitation towards each other, Gourry gave her a smile that made Lina blush. His other hand lifted to her smooth cheek and touched feathery across her face. When his fingertips touched her thin lips, he stopped and his eyes moved down her mouth.

Nervous and for whatever reason why, Lina pulled her lips into her mouth and licked it generously with her tongue, making it appear juicy and wet. Shifting his eyes back to her ruby orbs, Gourry bent his head slightly downward and stopped just before their lips came in contact. She tilted her head, why did he stop?

"I wish," He spoke suddenly. "I wish you can come with us."

"Oh, brother, are you still worried? I told you already, it's better if I don't go!" Lina growled, she pointed to the thick rolls of bandaging around her abdomen. "I don't want to risk reopening my stitches!"

"But I don't want you to be mad-"

"For crying out loud!" Grabbing him by the sides of his face, Lina pulled his head down and planted his mouth over hers, aggressively kissing him to shut him up. Quickly, Gourry returned her forceful kiss with his gentleness and gave out a soft sigh when their lips separated. Lina glared at him with a deep blush.

"I'm going to get mad if you keep making me wait, you jellyfish-brain." She grumbled and pinched him on the cheek. Gourry nodded and laid a few kisses down her neck, making Lina's pout lessen at every kiss. Her skin was as smooth as ever. Even after killing countless zombies, destroying monstrous robots, and getting shot at repeatedly, her skin stayed stainless and smooth. Not paying attention, Gourry moved his heavy body over hers and she instantly shoved him off, clutching at her abdomen.

"I'm sorry!" He apologized quickly and placed his large hand over hers, hoping that it helped the pain go away. "I forgot."

"You better be sorry." Lina sucked in air through her back molars and gave him a pouty look. "And you better show me that you're sorry."

"I can do that." A sexy smile slipped on his expression and her entire face instantly burned red again. Pushing her down next to his body, Gourry laid on his side while she was fully on her back. He withdrew the blankets off her petite body and stared at her loose red pajamas, Lina crossed her arms over.

"I-If I knew you were coming, I wouldn't be wearing this, you know!" She embarrassingly said. Gourry just chuckled and buried his nose into her soft red curls behind her ear.

"I still think you're beautiful, Lina." He whispered and kissed the end of her jaw line, she twisted her body from his gentle kiss and closed her eyes. Partly ashamed that she wanted his touch and his dominance over her body, she was also embarrassed and refused to see what his hands were going to do. Unbuttoning her red pajama top all the way, he parted the thin material and revealed her naked flesh. Never needed to wear a bra since her breasts were already so perky and small, Gourry liked that there was nothing shielding from him. Lina was on the under developed side and it was her biggest self-conscious worry, but she felt incredible when his thick-skinned fingers brushed against her hard nipples and grasp her miniature breast in his hand. He whispered her name into her ear causing her to whine and lift her upper body off the bed.

Moving his head away, Gourry went straight to one breast while his hand occupied the other. Her legs jerked and crossed, her hands wrapped around his neck, and her entire body shuddered when his lips touched her supple tan-colored nipple. Sucking, teething, and circling the tip of his tongue against her nub, the redheaded beauty released a soft cry of ecstasy. It felt wonderful and incredible being taken by this man. And they weren't even near the good part yet. Leaving her breasts, Gourry grabbed the waistband to her pajama bottom and slipped it off her slender legs, uncovering black cotton underwear. He removed his navy long-sleeved shirt and showed off his muscular large upper body. Taking her off the bed and placing her on top of his abdomen, Lina whined at this shameful position and slightly glared at him.

"Why am I on top of you? This is embarrassing."

"I just want to see you." He placed his hands on her slender thighs, only to slide it around and cup her bottom. "Come closer." Gourry motioned and she leaned her body on top of his, matching every curve of his body with hers. Laying her lips over his mouth, they kissed for what seemed like forever. Their lips challenging each other for dominance and tongues dueling inside, it was Gourry who won the battle and possibly, the war. Lina released a gasp when his fingers reached between her legs and dipped the tips inside of her second lips, she looked down instantly to see her cotton protection had been ripped off and so has his bottom wear. Probing his fingers just slightly inside of her, Lina was already twisting and moaning in pleasure. He must have done this a hundred times with her but it always felt so good. His rough, callus hands gave her an experience that she never felt before.

Gourry watched with half-lidded eyes as Lina sat on top of his stomach with her womanhood opened for him to see and his fingers dancing inside of it, it was a sight he loved. Her body gave a final jerk and he knew that she was ready for him. Licking the sauce that dripped on his fingertips, he lowered her body to the tip of his yearning and trembling member. Oh, he wanted her, wanted her so bad. Not allowing her to catch her breath, Gourry pierced through her opening and shoved his entirety inside her chamber. Lina released a loud shriek, not caring that the arguing couple downstairs could possibly hear her. Already starting a slow rhythm, Gourry forced Lina to sit on his harden penis and watched her whimper in bliss. He moved his hands from her bottom to her breasts, groping and tugging at her nipples as he quickened the pace.

"G-G-Gourry…" It took all her strength to conjure his name and he loved it. Gourry sat up on the bed and wrapped his arms around her body, while Lina's arms and legs twisted around his. He pumped her tiny body against his manhood, holding her tightly and kissing her like it would be their last time. Already close to their edge, Gourry flipped their sweating bodies, making her under him. Fuck the pain, Lina cringed when his body was over her bandaged wound; the pleasure she felt was more important to her. Gourry hovered over her body, thrusting deeper and faster inside of her vaginal walls, he grinded his teeth to feel his ending closing near.

"Gourry…" She whispered his name again, her fingers curled around his long golden hair and buried her face into his neck. "I'm… I'm going to…" Not wanting to lose to her, Gourry reached between them and using his callus pads, he rubbed aggressively on her most sensitive nub above her womanly opening. Wave after wave of ecstasy left her body and a huge surge of recreation and fatigue filled her. After a few seconds, Gourry hit his own surge of weakness and completion. He rolled off her, pulling himself out as he did. They laid in silence, staring at the ceiling and listening to each other's heavy breathing. Sitting up slowly, Lina turned her body slightly to him and met his tired eyes, she smiled.

"You're going to be late."

"Yeah." He sighed with a nod. Giggling, Lina got off her bed and walked across the room to her bathroom. Gourry laid in the disordered bed, his eyes still on Lina's frame as she went under the shower head and doused herself in hot water. It was always like this. They make love and when they finish, she'll get off the bed and take a hot shower. And if they were in his room, she'll just leave and the next morning, she will pretend that nothing happened. Just once, he smirked when Lina turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, he wanted to hold her at her most vulnerable and tell her it's okay to let her guard down with him. Getting off the bed, Gourry grabbed his clothes and proceeded to put it on. Lina looked up when he walked to her in the bathroom, fully clothed and holding his brown heavy coat in his hand. Her eyes widen when he grabbed her shoulders and pushed his lips against hers, kissing her forcefully and deeply. Before she could react, he removed his mouth and looked at her stunned expression.

"I'll come back for you." He suddenly told her. Lina stared at his grinning face, a soft blush flashing on hers. Giving her a light caress on her slim cheek, Gourry pulled on his coat and set his hat on top of his head. He turned around after giving her another gentle smile and walked out of her room. Once outside, Gourry and Zelgadiss said their goodbyes to their company and set off after the criminals. Watching from the window of her bedroom, Lina kept a hand over her thumping heart and mentally begged Gourry to look back. He never did. And for some reason, she was glad.

* * *

Lina sighed and tilted her head to the blue sky above her. That was two weeks and a half ago. She had recovered from her gunshot wound since then and was ready to catch more fugitives but because she was the only one present in her team, Filia refused to give her any high-risk missions until her two teammates have arrived from their current hunt. She threw the stone slab as high and far as she can, but shattered it the moment it came to her cross hairs. The redhead lowered her revolver and released an aggravating sigh.

It's been two weeks and a half since they left on horseback and she was suddenly taking back her words. She should've went. Lina placed her revolver on the long table in front of her and took her sawed-off shotgun. She was thinking of going after them and lending them a hand, not because she was concerned for her partners but because she was BORED. Had already thought of over thirty metal combination for her Dragon Slave, cleaned and polished all her weapons, made enough gun powder to last for another year, she did everything she wanted to do in the first three days of her break!

Lina sighed loudly. She never realized how boring her life would be without hunting. And since she was allowed to do mediocre assignments that didn't risk losing her life, Lina found herself taking ANY case that her adviser threw at her. ANY case, even if it meant saving a kitten from a tree, which in her case, she regretfully did. Lina turned her head to the large roll of fat sitting at the end of the table, next to her sniper rifle. The fat cat watched carelessly as his rescuer pointed her shotgun at him.

"Go ahead." Lina snorted. "Make my day." The fat kitty replied with a loud grunt and turned his head, letting out an arrogant meow. The great huntress sighed pathetically and dropped her shotgun to the table. Unable to find his owner, Lina was unfortunately stuck with the fat slob.

"Fat thing." She teased and looked back into the blue clouds. Her face returned to that same shade of red when she remembered her last encounter with Gourry. It was strange, she sighed. It was strange to have a man devote himself to her. Of course, she always gloated about how much men want to be hers and how she is the most sought after woman in the universe, it was still strange. Leaning against the edge of the long table, she stared at the moving clouds above her and sighed to see a cloud develop into Gourry's face.

"Lina-San." Lina lowered her head to see Amelia walking over to her, a packet of flyers in her arms. She winced to see a very upset expression on her face.

"Hey, Ame-"

"Is this what you have been doing your entire afternoon? Target practice when you should be searching for your client's owner?" Dumping the flyers on the table, Amelia glared at the redhead who was chuckling uneasily.

"It's just a cat-"

"This cat is a helpless creature who wants to be with his owner again and yet, you refuse to lend a hand? How cruel." Her upper lip stiffen, Amelia shook her head and slam an open palm on top of the flyers, making Lina jump. "WE MUST DO ALL WE CAN TO HELP ONE OF L-SAMA'S CREATURES! IF NOT, AREN'T WE JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAPPING THIS HELPLESS ANIMAL IN A TREE?"

"It climbed on its own-"

"WE MUST GET HIM BACK TO HIS OWNER OR DIE TRYING, LINA-SAN! IT'S PART OF OUR JOB AS JUSTICE FIGHTERS!" Amelia announced and Lina just sighed. She's never going to win so why argue?

"Fine." Admitting her defeat, Lina strapped all her weapons back on her body while Amelia happily hugged the flyers to her chest. Picking up the lazy white fluffy pest by the extra skin around his neck, Lina raised him close to her face and glared at his nonchalant expression. "Fat thing."

* * *

Amelia and Lina stepped out of the gun shop, the fat cat covered the top of Amelia's raven hair with his four legs sprawled lazily over her head.

"This is so strange." Amelia pouted, she looked at Lina. "Nobody knows where he came from."

"Or saw him before." The redhead shoved a flyer to a customer leaving the shop, a horribly drawn picture of the cat on it. Sighing, Amelia tapped a finger to the end of her chin, pondering where this fat cat could have come from. Maybe it wandered here from the forest or another town? That would explain why nobody knew him but, Amelia smiled wearily when the cat moved his paws over her eyes, that doesn't explain his rude manners towards humans. Taking the animal off her head, Amelia inspected the large cat for any clues or hints. No, he was just a normal, fat kitty.

While Amelia was busy passing more flyers to the town folk with the cat returning to her head, Lina had her full attention on a group of hooded people walking through the entrance of the dirt town. There were 6 of them, sticking close to each other with big gallon hats and black raised-collared cloaks that covered their entire body. Her eyes widen the moment she saw them. She recognized them immediately and followed them into Zangulas's tavern. Inside, Zangulas was already pouring a glass of beer for her, she sat down on a stool in front of him and accepted her drink.

"Where are they?" She asked and placed the mug to her lips.

"End table on the left." Zangulas told her without looking up. Crossing her legs, Lina turned in her chair and moved her eyes across the tavern. Sitting around the round table at the end of the room, the 6 people were hunched over and still dressed in their costumes. They lifted their heads to notice the redhead staring at them, whom just raised her glass and smile innocently.

"Times are certainly changing." Lina watched the strangers move their eyes away from her and return talking amongst themselves. She chuckled and took another gulp of her beer. "Fear doesn't intimidate people anymore, it seems."

"Who are they?"

"Before Gourry and I became bounty hunters, we were offered to join an elite club that featured the best gun slingers and swordsmen in the East. They call themselves, 'Alliance of the East'." Lina placed her glass mug on the table. "Moving from town-to-town to avoid getting caught by the police, they're top mercenaries who perform successful assassination of powerful men, rob high security banks, and other outlandish heinous crimes." They watched as the 6 men rose out of their chairs. "When they tried to recruit us, we made no hesitation to refuse and threaten them with their lives if they move their business to Saillune." She smirked when the group walked through the tables, trying to dodge her fierce gaze.

"It looks like they didn't hear you correctly." Zangulas reached under the bar table to the double-edge sword that was tucked in the darkness, his hand grasped around the handle when the 6 strangers went past them. They stopped simultaneously near the tavern doors and looked back at the redhead and the glaring barkeep. Moving her black vest to the side, she showed off the revolver at her hip while Zangulas unsheathed his sword from under the table and lifted it to their eyes. The group eventually turned around and left the tavern, causing Lina to snort.

"Weaklings." She slipped out of her stool. "Not even a single draw."

"Are you going to pay for that drink?" Zangulas asked before Lina walked out. She just raised her hand, motioning him to put it on her long bar tab. The redheaded huntress walked out and stood on the wooden porch of the bar, watching with crossed arms as the group of dangerous people walked further into town. This could be trouble. Lina leaned against the railing. If the Alliance of the East were in town, it could mean that something bad was going down in the next couple of days.

"And anything they are involved in," She scoffed. "It's not worth celebrating about." A smirked developed on her face. It wasn't worth celebrating but there goes her boredom. Leaping off the porch once the group walked around the corner into an alleyway, Lina sprinted to catch up to them until-

"LINA-SAN." Amelia abruptly grabbed her by the end of her ponytail, stopping her in her tracks. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?"

"I saw the Alliance of the East come into town and I need to see where they are going-"

"HAVE YOU ALREADY FORGOTTEN YOUR CURRENT MISSION, LINA-SAN?" Her adviser shoved the calm fat cat into Lina's face.

"Look, Amelia, a group of dangerous men just arrived in Saillune." Lina challenged. "I need to follow them and see what kind of business they are up too or something terrible might happen." But the young woman didn't budge, she kept holding the fat cat between their bodies and an unmoving glare.

"Oh, come on, this isn't even a mission! We're just finding a fat cat's owner!" As Amelia's glare intensified, Lina let out an aggravating groan and reluctantly took the cat off her hands. "FINE. I'll do it. YOU WIN."

"Great." With a sudden change in her demeanor, Amelia turned around and happily walked away. "We still haven't checked this part of town yet, I'm sure we can locate his owner here." Unenthusiastic, Lina followed her with the fat animal in her tight arms.

"When I find your stupid owner," She glared at the overweight pet. "I'm going to teach him a lesson that he'll never forget." The cat let out a loud and obnoxious sound, obviously not caring a word she says.

* * *

Filia looked across the table. Sitting on top of Lina's lap and poking his head from under the table, the fat kitty cat had his head placed on the wooden table with his paws next to its chubby cheeks.

"What the hell is that?" She pointed with the end of her fork at the fat animal slurping the crumbs that Lina dropped on the table. Still munching on her food, Lina looked down and saw the animal.

"It's a client." Lina said with a nasty tone. She grabbed it by the back of his neck and dumped it off her lap.

"Not just a client, Lina-San." Amelia snorted next to her on the table. "He's a very valuable client and we've been looking for his owner the entire day today but unfortunately," She and Filia watched as the lump of fat waddled around the bottom of the table, looking at them for food. "Nobody has seen him in Saillune before."

"What a fatty." Filia reached down and took the fat animal off the ground. She placed him on her lap and rubbed her fingers across its wide stomach. "Such a fat little thing." She awed with her lips puckered out. Lina and Amelia watched with wide eyes as the tall woman treated the animal like a baby and hugged it against her chest.

"Here." Filia reached over the table and grabbed a chicken leg from Val's plate. "You look so hungry." She showed it to the cat and watched him eat it happily.

"We're not getting a cat, Filia." Val suddenly told her.

"Of course not." She replied with a smile still plastered on her face. "Now, why would you think we're getting one, Val?"

"Because you're treating the thing better than your own son." He snorted.

"Oh, quit being jealous, Val." Lina elbowed him. "Let your mom have her fun. And who knows, maybe she'll let you get away with things." A mischievous smirk appeared. "Like letting you take gun lessons." His eyes widen at her statement. The teen looked back at his mother and saw how grossly focused she was with the round thing and smiled.

"But, Lina-San, this is not good." Amelia pouted. "Our client has a different owner! This is not right!"

"What's not right, Amelia, is letting this poor, lonely, children-deprived woman live without a fat thing following her! Just look at her! Doesn't she look happy?" Lina pointed out and Amelia did look at her. Seeing how happy Filia was petting the round animal, Amelia glanced at her redheaded friend.

"Are you sure you're doing this because you want Filia-San happy or because you just want to get rid of the cat?"

"One more than the other." She quickly replied and Amelia sighed.

* * *

Saying her good night to her friends, Amelia stepped out of the shop and headed to the other end of town where her home was located.

"Amelia, wait!" Val suddenly rushed out of the shop. Amelia waited patiently as he made it to her and watched him stand nervously. "Um…" He started. Peeking from the open doorway, Lina and Filia watched with raised eyebrows.

"I'm telling you, Filia." Lina hissed. "She's going to say no."

"Of course she's going to say no! She's not even remotely attracted to him." Even though they have predicted the outcome, they continued to watch the two young teenagers in front of the shop.

"What is it, Val-Kun?" Amelia asked with a smile. Val blushed at her innocent smile and cleared his throat. With Zelgadiss out of town, he wasn't there to interrupt or give him a deathly glare which prevented him other times to ask her out.

"Um… Uh." But, dammit, he was too fucking nervous! This was all going south! He never practiced his lines perfectly, nor did he actually think that Amelia would be standing in front of him. Just as he was going into a mental breakdown, Amelia's gasp caught his attention and he looked at her.

"Oh, I just remembered! A brand new restaurant is making its grand opening nearby and I've been invited to represent my father." She told him quickly. "I would ask Lina-San since she likes this kind of stuff but paying for her meals is a real big hassle…" Noticing Val's tall and thin built, she smiled.

"Would you like to go with me, Val-Kun? You won't have to pay for anything. It will be all on me." Lina and Filia dropped on top of each other. Did she just ask HIM out? Val's entire face burned red. He nodded without letting out another word.

"Oh, good." Amelia sighed in relief. "I was afraid you would say no and I would have to ask Lina-San again." Joining her soft laughter, Val said his goodnight and watched her walk away. Once she was out of sight, he turned around and raised his arms in the air.

"I AM THE MAN!"

"Hey, THE MAN." Lina called out from the doorway. "You just signed your own death warrant." Proud and confident, Val walked through the doorway with his hands tucked into his pocket.

"It's worth it to spend the night with the cutest girl in Saillune."

"Even worth an entire day of relentless and gruesome torture?" Filia asked. Val just scoffed, he looked at the two females with a smirk.

"After one night with me, Amelia would be begging to be my girlfriend." He said with arrogance and walked away laughing. Filia and Lina exchanged looks.

"He's delusional."

"He's dead."

* * *

She walked in the middle of the dusty road with her arms waving beside her body and whistling a soft melody. It was well-past dinner time and shops all over town were closing up. Amelia waved her hand when the merchant man turned his 'Open' sign to 'Close', he waved back and closed the door for the night. Soon, she was walking alone and with no lights illuminating her way. Thank goodness that she took this trip a hundred times alone or she would be scared out of her mind.

Turning the last corner to a long strip of colonial houses lined up next to each other, Amelia spotted her home at the end and smiled. Compared to the other houses, hers was like a castle. With over 15 employees working around the clock to keep the triplex mansion in perfect condition, Amelia and her family lived the high life. Just as she was entering the front gates of her home, Amelia stopped when she saw a rolled-up parchment stuck in between the metal bars.

"Didn't anybody grab the mail?" She unhooked the letter off the bars and saw that it was addressed to her father. Since her father was so busy conducting police investigations and maintaining quality life over Saillune, he had entrusted her with taking care of meager things like answering his mail. Amelia stepped into her home and greeted every maid and butler that she walked past. She was soon in her bedroom, changed into her silk pink mini nightgown and taking the parchment that she found to bed. Sitting up in her comfortable large bed, Amelia unrolled the note and began to read.

_To Saillune._

_You're in grave danger. They won't rest. They won't stop. Not until you are dead._


	7. Chapter 07 Fall of Saillune

Chapter 07 - Fall of Saillune

The face behind the justice system and the town of Saillune was a large man with thick whiskers and an unfriendly appearance, but don't judge a book by its cover because Phil Saillune had the biggest heart in all of Saillune. So when word spread that someone was going to assassinate the police commissioner and mayor, everybody in town were on their guard and were on the lookout for anybody suspicious. Even Lina, who preferred to stay out of things, joined the forces to protect the peacemaker.

Leaning her petite body against the wall of his office, the redhead huntress had her arms crossed and her head hung slightly downward with her eyes closed. Nearby, sitting behind his wooden desk with multiple stacks of files, Phil had on a very elegant beige suit with his sheriff badge pinned on his suit jacket over his chest, he was concentrating on an ongoing case that involved one of Saillune's top wanted men and thanks to Filia's bounty hunting team, they were able to catch him. Looking at the abundant workload on top of his desk, he sighed deeply and reached for his mug, filled halfway of his favorite drink of coffee.

"DADDY, WAIT!" Suddenly, a hand pressed against his mouth, preventing him from drinking. Phil sighed beneath the folded hand when his young daughter swiped the mug from him. "Do not be so reckless! There could be poison in here!" Amelia scolded and dumped the dark drink over her shoulder, splashing Lina on the face.

"Amelia." A low growl escaped her lips. "WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING, YOU KLUTZ."

"I'm sorry, Lina-San, but there could have been poison!" Amelia explained and poured freshly-made coffee in his mug.

"Look, girls," Phil called their attention. "I don't think this is necessary. It's been half a week since the note was delivered and nothing has happened-"

"That's because Lina-San and I have been vigilant and made no exceptions!" Amelia proudly raised her leather-gloved hand in the air.

"I appreciate your concern but," He turned his head to the Bandit Killer, who still had coffee dripping on her face, and chuckled wearily to hear her snoring. "This is getting bizarre."

"Bizarre? Whatever do you mean?" Even Amelia, who seemed so awake and alert, had clothespins to keep her eyelids from dropping.

"Amelia," Phil sighed when one of the clothespins loosened and her eyelid immediately fell. "You and Lina-Dono hasn't slept since the letter's arrival."

"That's because we are keeping you safe and alive." She released out a loud yawn and pinned her eyelid back up. "It's part of the job."

"I thought your job was to care for Filia's shop as assistant manager?"

"I AM assistant manager of Filia-San's pottery and iron mace shop BUT I am also an adviser to the bounty hunters." Amelia crossed her arms and smiled. "And since Gourry-San and Zelgadiss-San have not returned from their current hunt, I have no choice but to volunteer my services and protect you from any injustice! Lina-San and I cannot and WILL NOT rest our bodies until we are 100% positive that we have terminated the assassin and prevent your death from ever becoming!" For some reason, she was standing on Phil's desk with her victory pose pointed to her father. He just laughed and shook his head.

"You definitely get your personality from me."

"Thank you, Daddy." Amelia hopped off his desk and smiled. She placed his cup of coffee on the table and immediately turned her head when the door to his office opened. A young man in a black suit yelped when a sharp red dagger struck the doorway near his head and the bottom of a shoe was pressed against the side of his neck.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MY FATHER?" Amelia kept her threatening leg raised, the man nervously stood in the doorway, his eyes glancing between the dagger-throwing redhead in the room and to the dangerous martial artist in front of him.

"I'm… the driver." He jumped when another dagger was lifted out of Lina's pouch. "I was called here to drop off Saillune-San to the meeting! Don't hurt me!"

"Meeting?" Amelia looked back at her father. He was fixing his suit and placing a matching cowboy hat neatly on top of his hair. "What is he talking about, Daddy? What meeting?"

"I don't look this presentable every day, you know." Phil chuckled. He stopped moving towards the door when he saw Lina getting off the wall and his daughter grabbing her things. Sighing, he looked at the driver and motioned him to wait at the car.

"Lina-Dono. Amelia." He turned to them. "This is a very important meeting I must go too. I am meeting with top contractors from other towns about the growth of this town." They continued to stare at him.

"A very important meeting." Phil repeated and they nodded, obviously not taking the hint. Phil sighed and decided to tell them straightforward. "I've placed four young recruits who are going to watch the perimeters of the building that the meeting will take place, there will be no need for your tireless protection."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Amelia released a long whine.

"I'm not risking the future of Saillune because I had received an anonymous tip that there is somebody who wants me dead." He said loudly. "I've been getting endless, empty threats of my death since I have accepted my role as Police Commissioner and Mayor of this town, it is nothing new."

"But, DADDY-"

"It is only a meeting at the other side of town. I will be fine on my own for a couple hours." Seeing Amelia's large frown, he smirked and placed a hand over her head. "Did you forget that your Daddy is invincible?"

"Daddy…" In the back of her mind, she immediately thought of the bounty hunting crew of being 'invincible', not her father. "Just a couple of hours, right?" She asked full of concern. Phil nodded. Sighing, Amelia nodded back and hung her head.

"A couple of hours are good enough for me." Lina groaned and stretched out her arms. "I need my beauty sleep." Giving Phil a pat on the shoulder, she pushed her tiny friend past the large man. Amelia turned her head over her shoulder just before she left the building and watched her father ordering around his police recruits.

"You know, Amelia," Lina waited outside of the building as Amelia kept her eyes on her father. "I bet this is just another one of those empty death threats that Phil has been getting his entire profession." She crossed her arms and nodded. "I'll bet my gold coins that this is just a prank to scare us and we played right into it." Smiling wearily when Phil waved his gigantic hand to her, Amelia waved back and left the building.

"I hope you are right, Lina-San." She walked alongside of Lina down the front steps of the law enforcement structure.

"I'm Lina Inverse." The redhead snorted. "I'm always right." Giggling at her egotistic attitude, Amelia nodded and changed the subject.

* * *

Looking up at the clock, Amelia anxiously polished the large pot behind the counter of Filia's shop. She wasn't able to sleep like Lina so she asked Filia if she could help around the shop to get her mind off of things. It was already the early evening and her father should be done with his meeting. She returned to the large pot and continued to rub the specially-made cloth against the outer walls of the piece.

Unlike Lina, who had surviving family members in Zephilia, and Gourry, whose entire family was still alive somewhere in the south, Amelia only had her father left. Her mother was dead and her older sister ran away from home many years ago with no intentions of coming back. Even her Uncles, the Mayor's two younger brothers, had left town over an argument of who should run the town, where they have gone was unknown. So, Amelia had nobody but her father left. Although she hated being under the watchful eye of her father, she loved him with all her heart and would do anything to keep him safe. That was one of the reasons why she learned martial arts because he was all she had left and she didn't want to lose him.

Blowing the layer of dust from the other pots on the shelves, Amelia raised the bushy dust feathers against the pieces until she got to the iron maces. She went to the counter to grab a wet cloth to clean the weaponry when she spotted a framed photograph next to the cash register. It was a black and white photo of everyone 3 years ago. Sitting cross-legged with a 13 year old Val, Amelia was 16 years old and had her arms wrapped around the arm of a then, 21 year old, explosive redhead who was kneeling next to her. Standing behind them in a row was Gourry, Filia, Zangulas, and her father looking exactly the same. There were a few recognizable hunters and huntresses standing next to them but they have long since left the shop or were unfortunately killed during a hunt. Amelia stared at the photo. There was somebody who was not in the photo though. Somebody she had met just a few days after taking this photo.

~*~ 3 years ago ~*~

Her eyes widen to see the aftermath of the power plant. It was a large contribution to her town as its main power source, she sighed at the thought of having to take her bubble baths in the dark for a long time until another power plant was created. Walking around the destruction and picking a few bloomed flowers on the ground, she kept her eyes on the ruined and familiar pieces in front of her. She remembered the last time she was here. Joining her father to a monthly walkthrough of the company, she was surveying the inner mechanics of the plant just two weeks ago and then this happen eight days before, a freak explosion that nobody can explain. Amelia spotted a bunch of bloomed flowers in the middle of the destruction, she stepped onto blacken metal ruin and carefully made her way to the center. For something so horrible to happen to the town, at least something beautiful surfaced like the flowers. Just as she slid down a sheet of weak metal, her head jerked to the side when she heard loud raspy breathing. Her eyes instantly grew big as saucers when she saw him, saw what had happened to him. With half his body sticking out from under all the heavy scraps, he looked like he had been boiled alive. His skin was completely black in color, large boils and bubbles everywhere; he didn't look like a person at all. She could see his face and it was horrific. More than half of his face was enveloped in the black coat; his right eye was squeezed shut since the tar-like substance covered his eyelids closed. Frightened, she took a few hesitant steps towards him only to stop when his good eye opened and saw her. Amelia's breath stopped. He spotted her. Staring at his helpless state, she couldn't stop herself from spilling a few tears and taking a few steps away. When the man saw her horrific expression, he knew that life for him was over. Closing his eye, he just laid there and said nothing. He waited for death to take him. That was until he felt the heavy weight that was crushing his body slowly being lifted off him. He opened his sight again.

"Don't give up!" The young girl was lifting the metal material using her immense monster strength and broke the rock slabs in half with a powerful punch. Unable to assist her or move his body, he watched with astonishment as she easily got rid of the heavy metals, something he couldn't do. When she finally got all the destroyed rubble off, Amelia unclasped the brown cloak she had around her at the time and covered his damaged raw body, he hissed slightly at the new touch. Dragging him away by the sheet metal he was laying on, she found a shady area in the surrounding forest. She brought his head up on her lap and tipped her bottle to his dry lips, allowing him to drink her cool water. Careful not to hurt him, she kept one hand on the unhurt left side of his face, supporting him. The man had trouble swallowing the water at first but after a few minutes of Amelia just rubbing his throat lightly, he was able to drink on his own but very slowly.

"I don't want you to keep hurting." She told him suddenly. "But I don't want to see you die either." The man kept silent, his good eye watched her as he continued to drink. Amelia released a tense breath and moved her bottle away so he can lick his chapped lips wet.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked. "Do you… Do you want to live?" A few silent seconds of him just licking his lips past by. Finally, he opened his mouth and let out the hoarsest accent she ever heard.

"M… Mo… More." He begged and Amelia gladly gave him more water.

~*~ Present ~*~

"I hate that photo." Amelia turned her head quickly to spot Lina standing behind her. "I look so unprofessional and weak." Her tongue slipped out of her mouth.

"I hate it too." Amelia returned the framed photograph to its place on the counter and a small smile appeared on her face. "Everyone isn't present in this photo."

"Everyone meaning…" The redhead raised a sly eyebrow. "Zelgadiss-San?" She teased, copying Amelia's high-pitch voice. Giggling, Amelia nodded with a light blush. Lina sighed and leaned against the edge of the counter, her arms crossed over her chest. Staring at the new set of pottery vases, she rolled her eyes when she heard soft sniffling next to her.

"What the hell are you crying about now?" Lina irritably snorted. She tried to wipe the big tears rolling down her eyes; Amelia let out a tense laugh and shrugged her shaking shoulders.

"I-I don't know." She sobbed. Lina didn't bother to look at her; she knew exactly why her tears were falling. Her father was the Police Commissioner and Mayor of Saillune. It was inevitable that people would hate him and give him death threats. Although he shows a strong and relaxed front, that didn't stop his remaining kin's concerns.

"Look, Phil is tough." Lina said aloud and Amelia looked at her. "He didn't become the Police Commissioner AND the Mayor of Saillune because he's weak. He holds the title of Justice Champion of the East and for good reason, nobody can defeat that guy in hand-to-hand combat." Giving her a big smile, Lina threw in a thumbs-up as well.

"Your old man is invincible, Amelia, so don't worry about him. Phil can take care of himself." Staring at her large smile, it eventually brought a similar one on Amelia's face. Joyfully, she wiped the rest of her tears away with the back of her hand and nodded.

"My Daddy is the best justice fighter in the entire East division! Nobody can defeat him!" Raising her tightly gripped fist in the air, Amelia released a loud snarl. "He's invincible!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Lina joined her pose and they released a loud laugh.

"LAUGHING IS NOT PART OF THE JOB!" The shop owner screamed from the kitchen, instantly making Lina and Amelia close their mouths, slipping soft giggles from the edges of their lips.

* * *

"Well," Filia turned the lock on the front door; she smiled gratefully at her tired workers. "What a productive day! We actually went past our quota for the week!" Lina and Amelia let out a weak cheer and dragged themselves after their boss.

"And since I'm feeling so gracious tonight," The cheery woman got behind the counter and opened the cash register. She grabbed a handful of money and stuffed it into her purse. "Let's go out for dinner, my treat."

"I knew all this forced labor meant something in the end." Lina took off the forest-green apron off her body and dumped it on the counter. As they discussed happily which restaurant they were going to go, a knock came from the front door. Through the glass window, Amelia spotted her father standing on the opposite side and ran over to let him in.

"Didn't I tell you nothing would happen?" He told her the second she opened the door for him.

"Oh, Daddy." She rolled her eyes and closed the door, forgetting to lock it.

"Hey, Phil!" Lina raised her hand, motioning him over. "Come with us to dinner. Filia is paying."

"I don't want to impose-"

"Of course you can impose, Phil!" The redhead said loudly and slapped the back of his shoulder. "If it weren't for your-easily manipulated-self, we'd still be running from law enforcement." Phil laughed loudly and nodded, Filia giggled with a hand over her mouth.

"That is true, Philionel." She smiled slyly at him. "I never could have gotten this store without Lina manipulating you to lease it for me."

"You have my daughter to thank for that." Phil gave a slight glance at Amelia who was finishing the closing process of the shop. "She was the one who bought your pitch about fighting criminals and bringing justice back to town." Laughing loudly together, Amelia looked back at the three adults with slight worry. Why does she have a feeling that they were talking about her?

Just at that moment, the front door to the shop opened and two individuals walked in. One was a beautiful saloon woman with long curled red hair, her face covered in a layer of make-up, she had on a black and red lace dress that stopped above her knees in the front while the back dropped behind her ankles. Strapless and showing off large attributes, she had a black long feather that was sticking out of her red curls and black heels that made her legs look long and sultry. The other was a man with short green hair that stuck in the air, wearing traditional cowboy clothes and sporting a very big gun to his right hip. The woman went to the right while the cowboy looked at the merchandises to the left.

"Oh," Amelia placed her things down and went straight to the woman first. "I'm sorry. I must have left the door unlocked. We are actually closed." While she tried to get them to leave, Filia showed off the new addition to her growing family to Phil, who raised his eyebrow when the fat cat snorted loudly at him.

"Is this all the inventory you have here?" The woman's voice was as sultry and provocative as her dress. She ignored Amelia's persistent polite demand to leave.

"Well, we do take personal requests." The assistant manager told her. "If nothing we have here interests you, we can make something that will." Amelia tilted her head to the side. "But, we are closed, so we are not accepting any requests, right now."

"Did you hear that, Kanzel?" She turned her head to the man at the other side of the shop.

"That's wonderful, Mazenda." He replied with a sly smile. Getting rather annoyed and her stomach growling to get full, Lina cleared her throat loudly and grabbed the attention of the two characters.

"WE'RE CLOSED." She said arrogantly. Her vein pulsed when they ignored her and continued to look at the merchandise. "Why you-"

"I've got this, Lina-Dono." Phil calmed her down before she went on an angry outburst. As he joined Amelia to persuade the unmoving customers out the shop, Filia pushed Lina around the counter and toward the back, leaving them alone. Just when they were about to sit in Filia's office, Lina froze immediately when she heard rapid loud gunshot blasts from the front of the shop. From the moment she left the Mayor and his daughter alone, everything felt like slow motion.

Lina kicked off the chair and sprinted back, her eyes widen to see someone familiar dropping to the tile floor, the other had braced the shot and was able to stay of their feet. The front door to the shop was already closing behind the two customers that were just inside. Lina shoved past the obstacles between her and the fallen victim. But when she got close, Lina lost the use of her legs and fell to her hands, her eyes staring intensely at the large puddle of blood under her friend's body.

"AMELIA!" Phil cried, he ignored the blood spilling from the wound on his shoulder and went to her side. The bullets were for him but Amelia, who was much quicker than her father, came between him and his assassins and took two rounds above her chest, directly at her own heart. Lina knew instantly that Amelia didn't have a slim chance whatsoever. She was going to be dead in a few seconds. Filia screamed, she scrambled to Amelia's body and cried desperately for her to hang on. Her father scooped his tiny girl off the ground and held her, begging L-Sama to not take her away. Lina, who was just sitting there, stared at the harsh expression on Amelia's face.

"LINA! LINA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Filia broke Lina's stunned daze by shaking her shoulders. "SHE'S GOING TO DIE! LINA, SNAP OUT OF IT! LINA!" Infuriated and unleashed with tense, agonizing emotions, Lina rushed out the shop.

Once outside, disregarding Filia's pleas to get a doctor, she saw the two individuals walking calmly away in the middle of the dirt road. They were laughing amongst each other; their guns were still smoking from the end of the barrel. Not caring for the innocent pedestrians nearby, Lina grabbed a revolver in each hand and released all the rounds in her handheld weapons, accurately hitting her targets in the back. Seeing only red, her uncontrollable rage continued to let loose as the murderers dropped to their faces. She unlocked both chambers and hurriedly loaded it with ammunition. The dusty road was completely deserted now and the two assassins were lying on the ground, deader than Amelia. It wasn't enough though. Lina unrelentingly shot at them.

Unleashing every bullet she had in her pockets and every immense emotion that was stirring inside of her, she let out a heart-wrenching scream that shook the small town of Saillune and loaded her shotgun. She kept killing them until their backs were in pieces and her last bullet left the end of the chamber. Breathing heavily with smears of blood on her pale face, Lina finally lowered her gun to her side. She heard her name being called frantically but she didn't respond. She couldn't respond, her voice wasn't letting her. Her body sunk to the ground and sat at the feet of what was left of the murderers. Lina hung her head down, her hands still holding the weapon tightly. The redhead gritted her teeth together and released unfamiliar water from her eyes.

* * *

When they have arrived home with the mission accomplished, Gourry and Zelgadiss expected something different. Instead, they spotted the blood soaked floor, knew something had happened and sprinted to the town infirmary. There was a large crowd around the front of the colonial home when they got there. As they started shoving their way through, many people noticed them and created a wide enough pathway for them to pass by. There were so many people out here. Why were they out here?

"We're all praying for her." One of the townsfolk said with a wet tissue in hand. Her? Zelgadiss and Gourry exchanged looks. Gourry picked up his pace, Zelgadiss following him. Believing it was Lina in critical condition; they stormed into the home and stopped immediately to see Lina and Filia pacing around the living room. They stopped walking around, the room was eerily silent. Glancing between Lina and Filia, Zelgadiss looked around the room for the third woman who was supposed to be there. Filia noticed him looking around and her bottom lip trembled, she broke into a loud cry and dropped to her knees. Lina and Gourry went to her side quickly, helping her to her feet but eventually placing her on a wooden chair.

Then, Zelgadiss spotted the large man sitting on the couch in the room, his clothes were all bloody and his own shoulder was bleeding profusely. Phil had his hands covering the sides of his head, his shoulders just shaking lightly. The silver-haired man ceased to breathe when he saw what was dangling on Phil's wrist; it was a pink bracelet with a sapphire jewel. It was Amelia's.

"Zel." Lina was in front of him now. Zelgadiss turned his head to her. He stared at her moving lips but nothing came through. His ears had stopped working. He already knew who had gotten shot.

"I'm…" Her eyes flooded with wetness. "I'm sorry, Zelgadiss." She whispered and turned her head away, tears began to leak out her eyes. Zelgadiss couldn't move. He just stopped living for that few seconds. It wasn't Lina or Filia who got shot. It was Amelia. His legs were unable to hold himself up, so his hands caught the end of the staircase railing just before he fell to the ground and weakly moved to the last step of the staircase. Burying his face into his hands, he didn't care who was around to hear him and let out a sharp intake of tearful air.

"Amelia…" He choked out her name. "She's… She's dead?" His usual low tone voice was now high-pitch and struggling to leave his throat.

"She's with the doctor-"

"Where?" Zelgadiss asked forcefully.

"Two rounds above her heart." Lina said tremblingly. Zelgadiss turned his head to the side, his eyes began to sting profusely and his vision turned blurry. Flashes of emotions and regret flushed through his mind. Amelia is dead. Dead. That word repeated itself in his mind. She's dead. With shoulders shaking, he grabbed the sides of his head and tried to get rid of it. No, she can't be dead. Amelia can't be dead. Lina and Gourry looked away sadly when Zelgadiss let out a devastated cry of hopelessness that only a broken heart could give out. He whispered her name pathetically and emitted a harsh noise from the back of his throat, his unmanageable tears fell.

Nearby, Phil watched the crushed man with weak and tired eyes. Clenching Amelia's bracelet in his hand, her father moved his face away and released a grieving breath of air. Unable to take the taunt inside his head, Zelgadiss got off the step suddenly and sprinted up the stairs, Lina and Gourry ran after him.

"Zel, come back! The doctor isn't done with her yet!" He ignored them. He needed to see her for himself. He needed to see Amelia. Opening the doors to every room in the house, he didn't see her until he got to the last room. Shoving the door open with Lina and Gourry behind him, they stopped to see inside.

"So, basically," Amelia was standing in front of the doctor with her arms raised in front of her. Since her dress was coated heavily with blood, she was dressed in black mini shorts to cover just her bottom and an abundant of heavy wrapping bandages covered her chest and abdomen. "Keep your arms close to your body and when you do launch a punch, extend your arm fully outwards using the push of your entire body." She demonstrated for the doctor one of her powerful right hook.

"And then, you pull a FINISHING move of swinging your body around while bringing your left extended leg around." Doing so, Amelia spun her body in the air as her left leg swung across the air in front of her. The old doctor let out a loud exclamation and clapped his hands when her foot slashed through the dangling punching bag made from pillows, sending feathers to spill all over the floor. Spinning back to her two feet, Amelia finally noticed the three shocked visitors at the doorway and smiled big.

"Hey guys!"

"AMELIA!" Lina rushed in and punched Amelia hard at her head. "FOR A DEAD PERSON, YOU ARE CERTAINLY LIVELY!"

"O-Ow! Lina-San, why'd you-"

"NEXT TIME, JUST STAY DEAD SO WE WON'T WASTE OUR TIME CRYING OVER YOU!" Shaking her by the shoulders, Lina repeatedly butted her head against Amelia's forehead, causing her to whine loudly.

"I'm sorry, Lina-San," Amelia held her throbbing forehead the moment Lina unhanded her. "I didn't mean to make everyone worry." The redhead rolled her eyes, her lips curled into a pout, a very glad and relieved pout. She looked up when someone shoved her to the side; Zelgadiss pushed himself in front of Amelia. Her face instantly lit up to see him, Amelia opened her mouth to call out his name until he suddenly raised his hand and grabbed her shoulder firmly, shutting her up. Standing silently in front of her, Zelgadiss's piercing grey eyes glared at her. His face filled with so much twisted emotions, it was hard to decipher what he was trying to emit to her silently.

"You fool." His voice sounded hoarse. "Do you know how much worry you put everyone through?" A frown slipped on Amelia's lips, she whispered a soft apology but it wasn't enough, he gripped her shoulder harder.

"The entire town is outside, concerned about your well-being and you're here, showing off your moves? Do you know how much pain you're father is going through right now, believing his loving daughter is on the brink of death? Do you know how much I…" Zelgadiss paused, his eyes started to sting. Releasing a sharp tearful breath, he sucked the water away and remained his glare on her sorrowful face.

"I will gladly walk into an exploding power plant countless times, than spend the past three minutes learning that you are dead again." He said with a clogged throat. Amelia's bottom lip trembled; she lowered her head, unable to stand his harsh and truthful statement.

"But..." She whimpered. "But Daddy would've died and-and I… I would be alone." Only a few seconds passed when Zelgadiss came closer and placed his head on top of her other shoulder, his eyes closed and silver hair intertwine with Amelia's dark locks. He kept silent, his wrecked heart rebuilding rapidly back to its rightful place. Bringing her hands up, she nervously laid them fully over his coat. Not hesitating a second, Zelgadiss grabbed one of her hands and held it securely in his hand.

"You fool." He whispered again. "You're not alone." Replying by just nodding, they kept their position until Zelgadiss broke them apart. Led by his hand, Amelia gasped to see her father sitting on the same couch, in the same position he was when her mother died when she was just a little girl. Phil instantly lifted his head when he heard her soft voice. His eyes widen to see Amelia at the end of the staircase and quickly left the furniture. They gathered in each other's arms; Phil hugged her as tightly as he could with a large hand placed protectively behind her head. Kissing her temple, he pushed her back gently to look at her.

"Your life," He started with a trembling voice. "Your life is more important than mines."

"D-Daddy." Amelia choked in her tears.

"You got that?" Phil took her in his arms again. "Your life is more precious and important. Don't waste the gift your mother gave you." Thankful to be alive, Amelia held onto his large neck and accepted her light scolding.

"What I don't get is," Gourry suddenly asked Lina. "How did Amelia survive?"

"She was wearing this." The doctor came down the stairs and lifted a light-weight, upper-body armor chainmail in his hand. "It was strong enough to prevent the bullets from penetrating her heart and stopping it from going deeper than an inch into her body. Just a quick removal with butterfly stitches to close it up and she's all set to leave." Giving the armor to Lina, she raised her eyebrow to see that it was made initially for a male and since it wasn't large enough for Gourry, she looked at Zelgadiss.

"How about that?" Lina smirked and passed the thing that saved Amelia's precious life to him. "Thanks to your over compulsive desire to keep Amelia safe, you saved her." Hearing this, Phil glanced at Zelgadiss. Zelgadiss noticed him looking and turned his head; his long silver bangs moved and showed off the burnt side of his right face. He saw Amelia's father nod at him, silently thanking him. Zelgadiss nodded back, and then he looked at Amelia, who was hugging the teary-eyed Filia.

Letting out a large breath of relief, he closed up when she saw him and gave him the greatest smile he ever saw in his life. Breathtaking and heart stopping, he was instantly filled with that same emotion that got him really bumpy and blissful, nothing he ever experienced with any other woman. Usually, he would turn his head away because he couldn't handle the rapid beating of his heart but this time, the edges of Zelgadiss's lip curled and returned the long awaited smile that only belonged to her.

* * *

Standing in the main lobby of the grand home of the Saillune's residence, Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadiss watched closely as Phil and Amelia spoke with a small crowd of concerned townsfolk at their front door. With their weapons just seconds from leaping into their hands, they kept on their toes until the weary townspeople finally left after their worries had been lifted.

"If it is alright with you, Phil," Lina slipped her hand off the top of her gun holster and rested it on her hip. "We're going to keep watch of the premises until we can be sure there won't be another attempt for your life."

"Of course." Nodding, Lina glanced at her team.

"Since this property is large, we're going to have to be separated throughout the night." She pointed to the large front door. "The front door. It's an easy way in and unfortunately, proven just hours ago, it is the most common passageway that assassins use. Day or night." Her pointer finger moved to Gourry.

"Gourry, you're in charge of the entire first floor and the front door. Nobody gets in, nobody gets out without you knowing. You're the first guard, got it? "

"Got it." Gourry nodded with a confident smirk.

"Then we have the third floor." Lina looked up the staircase leading to the second and third floors. "High and with many vantage points, it's also the second most common way for assassins to get into a home. Starting from the highest level, the assassin will descend every floor thoroughly and find their victim fairly quicker than starting from the bottom." She sighed. "Since it'll be completely dark on the third floor and my accuracy is the best in this team, I'll be the second guard."

"Zel, I need you to be in the second floor, where Phil's bedroom is located." Lina glanced at him. "I need your expertise here and guard the second floor like your life depended on it."

"I'm happy to hear that my past experience is needed for such a case." Zelgadiss crossed his arms. "So, that makes me the last guard, right?"  
"No, you're the third guard." She corrected him. Amelia blinked when Lina looked at her. "Are you able to fight, Amelia?" She nodded.

"Good." Lina smirked. "I need someone to be with Phil for the entire night. You're going to be the last guard. The most important guard of all."

"Most important?" Her eyes widen.

"If the first, second, and third guard failed to stop the assassin, it is up to the last guard to protect the targeted individual, no matter what it takes." She told the tiny woman. "Are you up to it?" Glancing at Gourry and Zelgadiss's faces, she looked up at her father who was smiling at her. Smiling back, Amelia nodded and lifted her hand in the air.

"A justice fighter is up for anything."

"That's what I like to hear." Lina snickered. "Now, Filia is at the shop, digging up any clues or information on the two bodies as we speak. She should be coming over with the results soon and join in on our watch. When she does come, Gourry, she's going to join you as first guard." Once everyone got their roles, they dispersed throughout the house. Gourry hid in the dark, sitting on the first step of the staircase with his open blade sitting over his lap. The most experienced member stood behind the little light shining through the only window in the hallway of the second floor, his arms crossed and eyes peeled on anything that moved. Their team leader pressed against the wall of the third floor hallway, her back touching the flat surface as her hands worked on polishing the metal of her revolver.

Sensing something unfamiliar, Lina walked into one of the unlit bedrooms and looked out the window. Her eyes pierced narrowly to see a group of 6 people standing outside of the front gates of the house. Lina quickly identified them by the familiar dark cloaks and hats. It was the Alliance of the East, but what were they doing here?

"They followed me here." The redhead instantly spun her head. Filia stood behind her with a small smile.

"And you allowed that?" Lina scoffed, her eyebrow raised. "The old-Filia wouldn't have that."

"The old-Filia didn't have an irresponsible boy AND a group of immature adults to look after." She responded and joined her at the window still. They watched the Alliance of the East until they eventually walked away. "Do you think the Alliance has something to do with the assassination plot?"

"If they are, they are getting lousy." The huntress looked back at her boss. "And besides, there are still 6 of them. If it was them, the group would have been reduced to 4."

"Well," Filia chuckled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Sounds like you have something to tell me, Filia." Lina smirked. Sighing, Filia leaned against the window still and crossed her arms.

"I went back to the shop to see if there were any clues that the assassins dropped. I found nothing so I went to the morgue." She paused slightly. "There were two bodies submitted in the morgue tonight but those bodies were not accounted for when I arrived."

"Not accounted for…?"

"From the looks of the bloody trail I saw," Filia sighed again and met with Lina's red eyes. "They are still alive and walking about."

"Still alive? How can they be still alive?" She began to shout. "I gave them over a hundred rounds from each of my revolvers and over fifty blasts from my shotgun! They were dead the moment I shot them square in the back! I made sure they were dead-"

"Lina." The blonde woman raised her voice. "Not so loud." As Lina continued to grumble beneath her breath, Filia stuck her hand inside a slip of her dress skirt and took out a black coal-like mineral.

"Do you know what this is?" She tossed the rock to Lina. Catching the mineral in her hand, Lina looked over the jagged edges and smooth surface of the black rock and shrugged her shoulders.

"No clue."

"There were microscopic pieces of these things in the blood trail of the assassins." Filia took back the coal-like rock and inspected it herself. "I found this huge piece dumped before the bloody trail went cold." Lina stared at the seriousness in Filia's face and eventually looked back at the rock.

"Tell me, Filia." She sighed, Filia looked at her. "Just get it over with and tell me what you wanted to tell me before I lose my patience." Filia smiled. They stood watching each other until she finally spoke.

"Not human. Possibly, a robot with living tissue."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Well, I could be wrong." Filia shrugged. But Lina just rolled her eyes at that statement. "When you 'killed' them earlier, they must have just faked it since they knew the assassination didn't go as planned."

"So, is there a high probability that they will be coming tonight?" Lina asked.

"If not tonight," Filia began to leave the room. "Then tomorrow."

* * *

Zelgadiss looked up when he heard his name being called. Poking her head out of Phil's bedroom, Amelia motioned him over with a wave of her hand. Not wanting to leave his post, he shook his head at her and silently motioned her to go back to her position. Pouting now, Amelia looked back at her father; he was snoring loudly in the room. It's only a few seconds, Amelia concluded, and she is going to leave the door open so if anybody did come through the bedroom windows, she would be able to hear it. Zelgadiss sighed when Amelia rushed out of the room and towards him; he opened his mouth to begin scolding her until she closed the space between them and hugged him tightly. Stunned and completely taken off guard, he stayed frozen in her arms. With her face pressed so softly on top of his chest, she released a soft sound of happiness and looked up at him.

"I wanted to hug you before but I know you would get embarrassed if I did it in front of Lina-San and Gourry-San." Amelia whispered with a smile. Zelgadiss just nodded, the blush on his face didn't leave. Giggling, she went on her tip toes so their faces were just an inch from each other.

"Thank you so much for being so good to me." Amelia said and Zelgadiss continued to nod, words couldn't leave from his mouth. Giving him another squeeze, she finally let him go and rushed back to her father's room.

"Oh, Zelgadiss-San?" She looked back before she entered. "Look in your pocket. I left you something." She ordered and he obliged. Zelgadiss wrapped his fingers around the unknown object in his coat pocket and took it out; his eyes glanced at the present and the closing bedroom door. Looking back at the present, he ran his fingertips against the pink cloth and rubbed his thumb over the sapphire gem. He raised the lovely gift to his lips and kissed the gem gently, and stuffed it quickly into the inner jacket pocket, in case someone was watching him. Occasionally, he would press his hand over his chest and feel the round end of Amelia's bracelet over his beating heart.


	8. Chapter 08 Expired Batteries

Chapter 08 - Expired Batteries

The back door to the magnificent home opened slowly, the doorknob had been cut away with just the tip of the assassin's sharp finger. Silent and calm, the covered non-human entered the dwellings of the Saillune residents. Through his cunning vision, he was able to see the swordsman's large frame even before he entered the home. The young blonde swordsman was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the marble floor with his head was hung low, telling the intruder that he was deep asleep. Across the room, there was another guard, the tall female who owned the shop. She was leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped loosely around her shapely body. In her hand, dangling next to her relaxed body, there was a heavy weapon that had spikes at the end of it. From the even intake of breathing that passed through her lips, the impostor had nothing to fret. His narrow eyes lifted to the second level of the home.

Adjusting his eyes to the thick darkness, the mechanics behind his green eyeballs zoomed through the thick cement and marble floors. He could see the frame of the large man that belonged to his target, his nonchalant lips curled. This assassination was going to be easier than he thought. Just as he walked out the mansion, he joined his beautiful partner who was patiently waiting for him outside. The young woman threw her red long curls off her shoulders and gave him a provocative smile. Together now, they walked around the beautifully constructed home and lifted their heads to the highest level of the mansion. They bent their legs and leaped into the sky, jumping off the ground powerfully, they landed gracefully on the roof of the mansion.

Expert assassins from the west, Mazenda reached between her revealing cleavage and slipped out a thin, stiletto blade that looked like it was made from coal. While she quietly left the roof's edge, her partner took his triple-barrel revolver from his right hip and loaded it with piercing bullets. The woman successfully cut through the glass of a window on the third floor of the home. Without a sound, she was able to cut out a circle that was the size of her hand. Letting her hand slip inside the fresh wound, her fingers successfully released the lock on the window. The two killers entered through the windowpane, they scanned the third level of the mansion for the last guard. Unable to detect anybody, they looked at one another.

Go with the plan, Kanzel mouthed to his cohort. Walking a few steps to the side, the male stopped exactly where the bedroom that held his target was below his very feet. Mazenda knelt to her knees and placed her open palms against the marble floor. Suddenly her fingertips entered the granite; her hands grabbed a hold of the hard mineral and without an ounce of hesitation, lifted the floor beneath her and created a large hole through the ceiling of Phil's bedroom. The second the ceiling was ripped off, Kanzel jumped in with his arm extended and his revolver at the end of it, his finger pulled at the trigger. Unleashing multiples bullets into the bed that held Phil, he landed in the middle of the bedroom and waited for the feathers from the pillow casing to touch a solid surface.

"What's this?" Mazenda raised her eyebrow. She stared at the rotting corpse that was lying in the bed. Taking place of the Mayor, there was an already dead fat male that had the unfortunate task of posing as him. Landing next to Kanzel, she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "This is quite a nuisance."

"You're telling me," He popped open his bullet chamber and released the used empty rounds. "I just wasted my rounds."

"For a couple of professionals," The two beings turned their heads to the side of the room. Standing there with her hands to her hips, Lina and the two guards from the ground level had arrived. She slipped an arrogant smile on her face. "You two have fallen for the oldest trick in the book."

"Did you really think we didn't see you come in?" Gourry smirked next to her. "We weren't bounty hunters our entire lives, you know." His smile only got wider. "I used to be a farmer!"

"That was highly irrelevant, Gourry." Filia kept her iron mace close to her body.

"Don't you two look perfectly normal?" Lina looked over their unscathed bodies with her brows lifted; she let out a curious sound from her lips as she inspected them closer. "I don't see bullet wounds anywhere on your body! You guys must have spare bodies that you can switch out with or a very skilled mechanic to patch all those holes I gave you."

"Look, Kanzel," Mazenda turned her head to her partner. "The wild woman found out about us."

"Unlike other adversities," Kanzel was casually loading up his only revolver with bullets. "She will be a very bothersome itch if we keep her alive." He pressed the chamber in and raised the gun at Lina.

"I agree." The beautiful woman took out her own gun and pointed it at the strapping young man with the sword in his hand. "Let's get this over with and return to our primary task. To gather highly classified information from the one called, Philionel El Di Saillune, and kill anyone who gets in our way." The three guards split apart instantly when the killers began to unleash their bullets; Lina and Filia ran outside of the room and took cover behind the wall while Gourry hid behind the elegant dresser.

"Geez, these guys don't play around, do they?" The redhead took her own two revolvers out, she yelped when the rounds they shot went through the wall, nearby her head. Pulling her to the ground, Filia released a loud whine as the shots finally stopped.

"I knew I should've stayed at the shop." She could already visualize herself sipping tea behind her shop counter and eating homemade cookies. The last thing she wanted to do was dodge bullets again.

"Admit it, Filia, you miss this." Lina snickered. Filia rolled her eyes at that blunt statement and joined the redhead to peer inside the room. They quickly pulled back when the blasts continued.

"This is going nowhere." Kanzel snorted and released his last bullet.

"I agree." Mazenda pushed her smoking gun back to its holster and spun her red long hair to the front of her body. "Leave these three to me, Kanzel. My sensors indicate that the one called, Philionel El Di Saillune, has left the premises with two other." Lina flinched at her correct estimate.

"I expect three corpses." Her partner turned away and leaped out of the room through the window, not caring for the shards of glass that attacked his skin.

"Over my dead body!" Lina leaped out of hiding and began to launch her bullets at Mazenda, who did not bother to dodge the rounds. She fell down on her back with blood leaking out of the bullet wounds on her body. "Gourry!"

"I'm on it!" Her blonde partner was already going after the second assassin, jumping out from the same window. Mazenda was about to launch her bullets at him until Lina threw one of her red daggers into the woman's wrist, making her drop her gun and Gourry successfully ran after Kanzel. She sat up robotically and looked down at the multiple bullet holes on her body, and especially at the red dagger sticking out from her wrist.

"Steel and tungsten, shaped into an arrow with jagged gold-plated edges." Without an ounce of hurt, she took the dagger out and inspected it closer. "This is a highly ironic combination for a dagger."

"That's because it's an original Lina Inverse creation." Lina smirked. "It can pierce through deeper than bullets and it's a pain to take out." She told her.

"Correct assumption," Mazenda smiled and looked up at her two opponents. "But you have not seen mines." Lina and Filia's eyes widen when her long red hair lifted off her the sides of her face and sprung at them.

"W-What the hell is this?" The ends of the hair wrapped around Lina's wrist tightly and dragged her away to the other side of the room while Filia fought against a collection of hair with her mace. As Lina kept shooting her gun at Mazenda, the robot's hair continued to wrap around her body, starting from her feet and up to her chest. Soon, her entire body was tightly bound in the red ribbon. Her face was the only thing that was left uncovered.

"Lina!" Filia gasped to see the huntress bound like a mummy and turned to help her but the hair lunged at her, preventing Filia to leave. Mazenda walked to her captured foe and snickered, her fingertips gently grazed against Lina's cheek. Her other hand lifted to her large cleavage and took out her sharp stiletto blade that looked like it was made of black steel. Lina's eyes slightly widen when she pressed the tip of the dagger at her nose.

"Do you want to see mines?" Mazenda's evil eyes slanted with her twisted smile.

"Not really." Tugging her hand to where her pouch was, Lina began to slash at the red binds with a dagger. She yelped when the hair only grew out and grabbed hold of her wrists and ankles, the hair squeezed hard that it closed off the circulation flow making Lina dropped her weapons. Playing with the black blade in her hand, Mazenda giggled as she grazed the sharp edge of her knife across Lina's smooth cheek.

"This is a special dagger, you see." The killer made a little cut into her prey's skin, trying to provoke her but Lina just raised her eyebrow, unfazed at her attempt. "It's the only one that is made from used Lithium." That was when Lina's eyes widen; she finally moved her sights at the sharp knife.

"Lithium?" Lina repeated. "But I thought Lithium was a power source. It has no physical being."

"Of course it does, you fool." Mazenda laughed crudely. Sighing, she shook her head and lifted her arm, showing Lina the back of her forearm. "I guess you deserve to see what Lithium looks like before you die." Instead of using her own dagger, Mazenda grabbed Lina's knife and began to slice at her own arm. Glancing between what she was doing at her arm and at her snickering face, Lina had to admit that she was interested in what all this power looked like.

Peeling off a large amount of skin from her forearm, actually blood began to leak from the cut but that was not what got Lina's attention. It was the mechanics that was functioning before her eyes under the bloody mess. Reaching into the moving parts of her arm, Mazenda slipped her manicured fingernails inside and took out a small shard of a magenta colored crystal. It gave out a bright glow as she held it between her fingers.

"This is Lithium." The woman whispered. Lina's eyes widen at the pure crystallized mineral in front of her. "And this," She motioned at the blood that was being collected under her. What looked like black dust, it was microscopic black pieces of coal floating in her blood. "This is the used mineral."

"And here I thought Lithium could last forever." Lina released a soft chuckle making Mazenda glare at her. "You're really just a robot that has an expiration date."

"Aren't all of us?"

"Good point." As she put the source of her power back into her arm, Lina looked past her and saw Filia. She was holding her own against a field of flying and slashing hair. Noticing Lina, Filia saw her motioning a very familiar signal with her eyes. Nodding, Filia dumped her overweight weapon to the ground, grabbing the attention of Mazenda.

"Keep your eyes on your main target!" Lina snarled and thrust her head forward, hitting the woman at the back of her head. "NOW, FILIA!" She screamed. While dodging another spray of hair, Filia leaped off the floor and grabbed the ends of her long white dress. Just as she landed nearby the field of hair, she had removed her dress and revealed wearing long tight leather high-waist pants with a tucked-in white loose tank top under it, her hands covered in white leather gloves. But it was the large weapon that she was carrying on a leather black strap around her shoulder that made Mazenda take a step back.

Holding a fully automatic, portable heavy machine gun against one hip with 250-round linked belt wrapped loosely around her waist, Filia smiled and pulled at her trigger unleashing 75 rapid bullets at the mass of hair. Successfully cutting it off at just shoulder length, she turned the end of the barrel at Mazenda and released the rest of the bullets. Breaking her into bits and pieces of scrap metal, splashes of blood splattered around the room as the HMG (heavy machine gun) killed her. When the smoke finally dissipated, Filia whipped her long hair away from her face and raised the end of her HMG to her lips. She elegantly blew away the soft smoke that was seeping through and smiled.

"Still works like a charm."

"Ugh," Lina got up from the ground. Partially covered in blood, she held her stinging wrists and walked to the crippled robot against the wall. "That thing is still loud as ever."

"Show some appreciation. It just saved your life." Filia joined her with the 180lbs gun on her shoulder; she carried it easily like it was light as a feather. They stood over the broken body of Mazenda. With both arms and legs gunned off her frame, she was also ripped apart with countless bullet holes everywhere. Still, even after all that, her eyes were moving around the room and her lips were shaking.

"Shit." Lina snorted. "She's still alive."

"Well, we need to do something about that, don't we?" Her tall cohort lifted her iron mace over her head but Lina quickly stopped her.

"Wait!" She came between her and the broken robot. "We need information out of her. She might know who gave her the order to assassinate Phil."

"Dammit, I really wanted to use this like before."

"You mean like the times we had to kill someone and you would always smash their heads in?" Filia sighed in recollection with a big smile.

"Those were such good times."

"Okay, crazy." The redhead rolled her eyes. "I'm going to catch up with the others while you take the broken thing and interrogate the shit out of her. I'll meet you at the shop." She said as she picked up her weapons from the floor.

"Interrogation." A larger smile drew on Filia's face. "My favorite part of the job."

"Yeah, go ape crazy." Lina took Mazenda's black dagger from the marble ground and looked it over. Turning her body to the window that Kanzel and Gourry used, she tucked the mysterious black dagger inside her back pouch.

* * *

Amelia, Zelgadiss, and Gourry stood with their backs pressed against each other, their eyes searching through the darkness around them. Having successfully hidden her father somewhere in town, Amelia tightened her fists as the assassin's laugh echoed in her eardrums, her right leg still leaking a small amount of blood from the gunshot she received. Fighting with a busted left arm from Kanzel's first attack, Zelgadiss kept his sword close to his body and a revolver dangling in his left hand. Gourry, who had caught up to them, had a deep cut that ran across his stomach and it was bleeding profusely.

"Gourry," Zelgadiss whispered. "Are you able to move?"

"I can still fight." He had a hand pressed against the large wound, trying to stop the bleeding on his own. Glancing at the large puddle of blood near her feet, Amelia looked back into the darkness.

"Add pressure to your major artery above your left leg, Gourry-San, it will stop the bleeding." She instructed. Moving his hand above his left thigh and blocking the major vein that pumped blood, he was finally successful in stopping the blood from flowing out.

"A crippled gun slinger, a heavily wounded swordsman, and a used up martial artist," Kanzel spoke over their heads with a chuckle. "What an unfortunate ending for all three of you."

"Don't you mean an unfortunate ending for you, you fiend?" Amelia snorted.

"As long as one of us is still alive, there is still an ending for you." Gourry moved his eyes to the right when he saw a dark shadow pass under the street lights. He winced the moment he spotted the green-haired cowboy standing to his left and moved his sword. In a split second, the killer disappeared from his eyes, using his incredible speed.

"Dammit, he's too fast." Zelgadiss had spotted him countless of times in front of him but whenever he tried to make a move, Kanzel would be somewhere else. He was toying with them and confusing their eyes. Watching the three of them off to the side with his revolver pointed at Gourry's head, he pulled back the hammer of his revolver. Time to finish the meddling kids. Just before he was about to pull the trigger, Kanzel turned around when he heard movement behind him and his eyes slightly widen when the end of a gun barrel was pressed against his forehead.

"Die." Lina smirked and released a bullet into his head. His body flung backward and hit the ground, attracting her three comrade's attention. His gun dropped out of his hand.

"Lina-San!" Amelia gasped happily, she limped towards her. "Thank goodness, I thought we were going to be done for." But Lina ignored her. She walked past her and went straight to the assassin. Positioning both guns at the body, she unleashed all her bullets at the man's chest.

"Cut his head off." She ordered Gourry. He swung his sword and when his blade was just millimeters away from his neck; Kanzel's eyes snapped open and spun around on the ground, dodging the sword's edge. He was able to move around the bullets when Lina and Zelgadiss shot at him. Catching Lina's red dagger with his teeth, he threw it back at her and she skillfully caught it back.

"We're too predictable." Zelgadiss growled. "He can see our every move."

"Then let's do something unpredictable." Lina muttered and moved her mouth to his ear. As she softly whispered her plan to him, Zelgadiss's eyes slightly widen. He drew back his head and stared at her confident smile. "Do it, Zel."

"What if-"

"It'll work." The redhead told him and grabbed her loaded shotgun from her back, she looked at Amelia. "Come on, Amelia!" Nodding, Amelia and Lina raced to their opponent as Zelgadiss ran to Gourry. Kanzel blocked Amelia's strong leg with his forearm; he pushed her off and dodged the two blasts from Lina's shotgun. While busy dodging Lina's continuously bullets, Amelia swung her fist into his gut, making him lunge forward from her powerful hit. She twisted her body and slapped the side of her steel-toed shoe against his face, throwing him off his feet. Although the punch and kick landed, Kanzel landed on his feet and moved his body when Lina shot at him again.

"You're attacks are so synchronized that you're making this too easy for me." He explained with great detail as he continued to dodge the bullets. Lina smirked, along with Amelia.

"We're easy, huh?" Lina chuckled and pointed behind him. "I guess you even saw this move, right?" Turning his body around, his eyes slightly widen to see Zelgadiss behind him with his sword out. Even at such close proximity, Kanzel was able to dodge the slicing blade and kick the gun slinger in his stomach, sending him a few feet back. Then, from the side, Gourry jumped in with his sword swinging repeatedly at him, making the assassin walk backwards to the edge of the city, his back turned to the forest.

"It doesn't matter how many times you try to surprise me, I will only dodge it." He delivered a punch into Gourry's face, making him fall back in front of the tips of Lina's feet.

"Then dodge this!" She screamed with her Dragon Slave in her hand. Seeing the canon-like revolver in her hand, he braced himself as Lina pulled the trigger. A large warhead left the barrel and exploded on impact with Kanzel's body. Engulfing his body and with some parts of the forest behind him. The red explosion finally ceased after a few minutes. Looking into the large crater that her destructive weapon created, Lina saw the broken body of the robot.

She ignored her gun breaking into pieces as she jumped into the hole and cautiously walked to the metal being. With all his clothes burned off, more than half of his protective skin been destroyed in the explosion, he laid in the rubble showing off his robotic parts. Lina looked him over; she could see the tiny slivers of crystals inside of his mechanics. Dimly glowing as red blood with now visibly black pebbles flooded everywhere. Even taking the Dragon Slave head-on, Kanzel moved his head off the ground, panting heavily from his metal mouth.

"So… That's the Dragon Slave… I heard so much about."

"How do you know about the Dragon Slave?" Lina curled her eyebrows.

"Don't be so humble… Lina Inverse." Kanzel chuckled weakly, he tried to lift his arms but it ripped off at his shoulders. "Everyone… knows who you are… in the west." Watching him struggle on the ground, she angrily placed her foot on his chest and shoved him back on the dirt.

"Why are you after Philionel?" Lina moved her revolver close to his chin. When he didn't speak, she pressed it to his forehead. "TALK." Joining Lina, the rest of her team slid to the bottom of the hole. His glowing red eyes moved to the three and back at her.

"He holds… valuable information that… we need… to survive." He whispered.

"Who's we?"

"We…" With a trembling finger, he pointed to himself. "My… kind."

"Robots." Lina clarified. "How many more of you are there?"

"Lots."

"Be specific." She growled. The lights seeping through his mechanics were slowly drifting away and the crystals were turning into solid black rock, just like the one that Filia had showed to Lina. He let out a rattling breath of air.

"Our kind… is dying off. We need… power." Just as he whispered that, walking to the edge of the crater, the man with purple hair in the black suit smiled. Kanzel's eyes stopped fidgeting the moment he saw that man, his mouth dropped slightly. The stranger opened his eyes slightly, revealing malevolence amethyst eyes.

"Talk, robot." Lina and the rest did not see the man standing just a few feet above them. Breathing heavily, Kanzel had stopped talking and his eyes kept staring at the man. Fear and panic filled his face, as if he was staring at death himself, he could not take his eyes off the man.

"I said, talk!" She pulled back the hammer of her revolver. But he couldn't say anything. Pressing his gloved finger against his lips, the stranger motioned him to stay quiet. "TALK OR I'LL BLOW YOUR CIRCUITS INTO BITS!"

"More… will come." Kanzel muttered, making the stranger sigh and shake his head. The man reached into his jacket and took out a black cone that had a sharp edge at the end. "Our mission… is to kill the target… and collect the whereabouts of-" Suddenly, the black cone dagger struck into Kanzel's mouth, preventing him from speaking. Lina and her comrades jumped back at the sudden attack.

Releasing loud muffling sounds, his eyes widen when the strange weapon spilled clear liquid into his mouth, he coughed a good amount out and it went everywhere on his body. Then he heard soft beeping sounds coming from the cone. Just when he noticed the sounds, it stopped and exploded in his mouth. It wasn't enough to kill him but he was engulfed in black flames that caused him to release a death-defying scream.

"STOP THE FLAMES!" Lina threw dirt over the never-ending fire but it didn't stop, it couldn't be stopped. When Kanzel's screams finally finished, so was his life. Climbing out of the hole, Lina and her team surveyed the area, trying to find the culprit. They found nobody.

"Lina." Gourry called her over to the edge of the crater, he pointed to the footprints that the culprit left. Kneeling with him, they looked over the prints closely. It appeared as if someone was standing right here, listening in and making sure that Kanzel wouldn't say anything important but when he did, he obliterated him with a torturous device.

"What the hell is going on here?" The redhead asked loudly, her eyes returned to the ongoing black flames covering the robot. More importantly, she turned her head when Amelia and Zelgadiss appeared with the Mayor beside them. What the hell do these assassins want with Phil? What highly classified information does this man know?

* * *

Unfortunately for Filia, she was unable to get any information out of Mazenda since the second she brought her to her shop, she reached her expiration. Staring at the limbless body of the robot on top of the round kitchen table, Lina tapped the tips of her fingers against her chin.

"Alright, Phil." She turned her body to the large man who was drinking from a teacup. "Explain."

"What do you want me to explain about, Lina-Dono?"

"Explain why there are robots trying to kill you." Lina pointed at the dead android on the table. "Explain why this thing almost killed me with her hair and her partner with his super speed." Slamming her fist next to Mazenda's head, she let out a loud growl. Phil stared at her with seriousness on his face. Filia sighed between them; she was still in her combat clothes.

"I don't-"

"Don't TELL me that you don't know, Phil." The redhead groaned, she reached into her pouch and grabbed the first dagger that her fingers came in contact with. "Don't MAKE me use this." Expecting the dagger to stop when she thrust the tip into the dinner table, she yelped when the black blade in her hand ran through the wood like it was butter.

"That's coming out of your next hunt." Unfazed, Filia muttered as she calmly drank her tea.

"What the hell?" Lina smoothly pulled the blade stiletto knife out of the wood and looked it over. "It went straight through-" The cup in Phil's hand dropped, he rushed over and swiped the black dagger from her hand.

"Where did you get this?"

"The robot had it with her." She pointed to Mazenda. Phil looked at the black blade and ran his thick fingers over it; he turned his head to the limbless robot and moved his eyes to the puddle of blood that it was making. His eyes slightly grew to see black pebbles in the liquid. He reached over and took the black rocks out of the red fluid, gently testing it between his fingers.

"This is not good." He softly muttered.

"Yeah, it's not good." Lina snorted next to him, she took the black blade from his hand and leaned slightly forward. "So, what's not good?" Glancing between Filia and Lina, he stepped out of the kitchen and motioned the two to follow him. They went up the stairs and into the room where Amelia, Zel, and Gourry were resting. The room door opened and they looked up, Gourry was laying on one of the beds while Amelia and Zelgadiss sat on the other, tending to each other's wounds. Lina and Filia walked in with Phil holding the door open for them. He closed the door and locked it, preventing anybody else to go in.

"What's going on?" Zelgadiss asked as Amelia wrapped heavy bandages over his wounded bicep.

"What I'm about to tell you, must never leave this room." The large man said in a low voice. He turned around and placed his back against the door. "Do I make myself clear?" Glancing at everyone's nodding heads, Phil sighed and took a few steps away from the doorway, he paced silently for a few seconds until releasing another heavy sigh.

"When Saillune was founded by my ancestors, it started as a mining town. The people here were all miners and would mine out precious metals to contribute to our economy." He started. "We bloomed after the first decade as a mining settlement, towns around these parts counted on us for their precious metals to build their houses and buildings."

"Up until three years ago, did I notice there were fraudulent dealings between the mining industry and the power plant that was stationed outside of Saillune." Phil paused for a second and looked at Zelgadiss; the ex-mercenary was already looking away. "I hired Zelgadiss-Dono to investigate the power plant and the excavation areas where the miners were digging."

"I didn't know you were working for Daddy, Zelgadiss-San. Why didn't you tell me?" Amelia asked softly. Zelgadiss just stayed quiet.

"Hiring mercenaries are illegal, Amelia." Filia said loudly. "Even if your father hired Zelgadiss to spy on his own people, Phil would have been sent to prison for illegal transactions with a hired hand. Zelgadiss was keeping quiet to prevent Phil from going to prison and leaving you without a father." Amelia gasped softly; she looked around Zelgadiss's shoulders and met his unsure eyes. Expecting something else, Amelia gave him a loving smile instead.

"What did you find, Zel?" Gourry asked from his bed.

"Exactly what Phil thought. There were illegal dealings between the mining industry and the power plant. Miners would dig after hours in private, secluded excavation sights around Saillune and they'll take their findings to the power plant, it was there the metals were processed and packed in inconspicuous wooden crates that would be dropped off at the train station and make its way to the west."

"The west?"

"The power plant was just the middle man. There was another entity that was a part of the trade, operating solely in the west. It was there, the processed metals, would be shipped too." Zelgadiss took off his left black glove and looked down at the burn mark that ran across his palm, a reason he wore gloves. "Unfortunately, I didn't get to find out who since the processing plant exploded shortly afterwards."

"But with Zelgadiss-Dono's report, I was able to close the mining industry and board up every excavation site around Saillune." Phil quickly said obviously to cheer him up but it was Amelia's hand that brought a soft smile on Zelgadiss's face, slipping it over his beautiful scar on his hand before he covered it with his glove.

"Do you know what they were digging for, Phil?" Lina asked suddenly.

"You already know that answer, Lina-Dono." Her fingers curled tightly around the handle of the black dagger. "Lithium."

"Shit." She cursed. "I was hoping you weren't going to say that."

"What else could it be?" Phil chuckled. She sighed and crossed her arms, the black blade sticking out from below.

"I was kind of hoping Platinum or Gold. There is a high demand for Gold, nowadays."

"Wait a second." Filia stopped their friendly conversation and pointed at the black blade. "That weapon is really made out of Lithium?"

"Well, not exactly." Lina sighed. "Lithium starts off as a crystal but once its power level is used up, it changes into this black, coal-like metal. And from what I experienced with Filia's wooden table," In a swift move, she threw the dagger at Gourry who was dozing off. He yelped and dodged it in the last second; the dagger struck the metal bed frame behind him. Everyone stared astonished at the blade. It went through the metal like it wasn't even there. Hesitant, Gourry reached over and easily pulled the blade out.

"It's sharper than any other metal I know." She took back the dagger from Gourry and pinched his cheek, scolding him for almost going to sleep. Flopping her body over the foot of Gourry's bed, her arms crossed over her small chest as she stared at the ceiling.

"When I asked Kanzel why he was after Phil, he replied that Phil held valuable information for his kind to survive." She lifted her head off the mattress and glanced at everyone in the room. "What if it were these robot assassins from the west who was receiving those wooden crates of Lithium, three years ago?" When the room got eerily silent, Lina sat up on the bed and crossed her legs. "What if their supply of Lithium has run low and they need to replenish their power source to continue to live?"

"They would come to the East, where the Lithium is manufactured, and go to the only person who knows the location of its origin." Zelgadiss finished, he joined the others in looking at Phil.

"But," Phil's eyes slightly turned. "I don't know the location of the excavation sites. Only the scientists and miners would know and they all passed away from the explosion."

"I thought you closed the mines-"

"Everything, except for the Lithium sites." He answered. "Zelgadiss-Dono and I have taken multiple trips around Saillune and we had yet to find it."

"Halshifom found it." Lina muttered. "He found it, devoted his life to it, lost his true love, and died because of it." She slipped off the bed, unable to keep herself still.

"Kanzel said that more will come." She walked around the bed frame and to the only window in the room. "More robotic assassins will come to Saillune and will stop at nothing to get Phil-"

"But Daddy doesn't know where the Lithium is-"

"It doesn't matter." Lina snorted. "He's the only one who can possibly know where it is." She glanced at Zelgadiss; he was still sitting against the bed frame. "And when they find out that you are somewhat involved, Zel, they are going to come after you too."

"Them and the entire law enforcement in the North." He rolled his eyes. Smirking, Lina looked back at Phil.

"Is there anybody else who could have possibly known where the sites are located?" She watched as he scratched at the end of his chin, stroking lightly his bushy mustache.

"There was only one miner that I know of who survived the explosion that day." Phil muttered softly. "His son was taking his place on the day of the explosion while he was in town with me, discussing future arrangements. But after the death of his only son and the closing of the mines, he had left town to make his own settlement just outside of Saillune."

"Who is this miner?"

"Taforashia." The Mayor answered. "If there was anybody who knew anything about what was going on in the power plant, it would have been him. He was and still is one of the best miners that Saillune ever seen. Brilliant too, he was the one who created the tunnel systems underground for the mines." Staring out from the second story window, Lina moved her eyes across the street and spotted six covered figures standing in the rain; their heads were facing at the window.

"I think we need to pay this Taforashia guy a visit." Lina leaned against the windowpane. "Tell him there are dangerous, killing machines that are heading his way." She smirked when the alliance winced at her statement, looking at one another cautiously.

"How do you know?"

"Because the Alliance of the East are standing outside and believe me, they heard our conversation." The redhead pointed out. Stomping to the window, Phil and Filia looked outside. When they spotted their faces, the six figures turned around and walked away quickly.

"Should we go after them?"

"You, me, and your precious HMG, against six professional mercenaries?" Lina eyed Filia as if she was growing something out of her head. "We'll live to see another day but I guarantee that we'll be in pieces."

"The old-Lina would've jumped out of the window and charged at them with just a dagger in hand."

"The old-Lina had a crew of killers to back her up." She glanced at the three wounded people sitting on the beds. "Starting tomorrow, Gourry and I will start heading to where Taforashia's settlement and warn him. We'll try to find out what he knows about the locations of the mines, secretly."

"In the meantime, I'll recheck the books and find out if there are any more survivors or any information about the excavation caves." Phil told her.

"I'll help." Filia smiled.

"Zel and Amelia," Lina looked at them. "Halshifom could very well be the only person who knew where Lithium is located and now, he's dead. I need you two to go back to his mansion and find clues, hints, maps, anything relevant to Lithium."

"Got-"

"I got it." Zelgadiss emphasized the 'I' loudly and gave Amelia a very long and overpowering look. She opened her mouth to protest but got an even more powerful look, eventually getting her to back off and pout to herself. Just as they were finishing up with their private conversation, everyone's heads spun around when they heard a very familiar clash of precious things hitting on tile floors. Filia's eyes widen at the sound and instantly ran out; she screamed the moment she entered the front of her store causing everyone to rush down stairs.

"MY MERCHANDISE!" Spilled all over the tile floor, every glass and clay pot that was once on the shelves was broken into several pieces. Her left eye twitching irritably, she looked at the culprit who did such a horrible thing.

"If that was the only way to get service around here, I should have done that when I got here." Standing in the middle of all this mess was a man in a black suit and black dress shoes, leaning on a solid thin cane and with a top hat on his head. He raised his cheerful closed-eyes to the shaking and cringing shop owner and smiled happily. "I have a complaint about the terrible customer service here-"

"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE? WE'RE NOT OPEN, RIGHT NOW!" Filia barked.

"Well, the door was unlocked." The customer pointed to the front door. "And if the front door is unlocked, that means that the store is open for business-"

"IT'S 5 IN THE FUCKING MORNING! WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE SELLING POTTERY AT 5 IN THE MORNING?" She screamed. "AND WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD WANT TO BUY POTTERY AT 5 IN THE MORNING?"

"I noticed the lights were on and I was getting terribly wet from the rain-"

"AHHHH!" Filia pointed to the large puddle of rain water on the floor. "YOU BROUGHT THE WATER IN!"

"If you were here, watching the store, I would've asked for a towel and dried off." He chuckled and stepped out of his puddle and to a dry part of the floor. "Since you are here, may I have a towel before I catch a cold?"

"YOU DESTROYED ALL MY MERCHANDISE, BROUGHT RAIN WATER INTO MY STORE, AND YOU ARE ASKING ME FOR A TOWEL?" She released a loud, high-pitch screech at the purple-haired man. Lina and Gourry took a few steps back, knowing full well that she was NOWHERE in a good mood.

"Actually, I didn't destroy your merchandise. I had tripped from the water that was being collected at my feet and I caught myself with the shelves that held all your awful, tacky, and horribly crafted merchandise-"

"W-W-WHAT DID YOU CALL MY MERCHANDISE?"

"Oh, you're blind AND deaf, that would explain the awful, tacky pottery and poor customer service. You had me calling for assistance for a full 20 minutes down here. Well, you should apologize-"

"ME? WHY SHOULD I APOLOGIZE? I WASN'T THE ONE WHO BROKE INTO A SHOP AND RUINED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF ITEMS!"

"If you have just locked the door, none of this would have happened." The man smiled innocently. Twitching and completely caught off guard, Filia released a loud shriek and grabbed the nearest heavy weapon.

"GET OUT OF MY SHOP, YOU INSIGNIFICANT, VULGAR, SHOP INTRUDING, NAMAGOMI!"

"N-Namagomi?" The man's eyebrow slightly jerked.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Obviously unconcerned about her friend's safety, she began to swing the mace around her. "NAMAGOMI! NAMAGOMI! NAMAGOMI!"

"F-FILIA!" Lina dodged with the others. "GET HIM! NOT US!"

"Na-Na-Namagomi?" A vein pulsed out from his temple. Just as she threw the weapon directly at him, the man raised his white gloved hand and caught the mace just a few inches from his face. Everyone, especially Filia's eyes widen. He caught a 150lbs weapon in mid-air and with ease too. Who is this guy? Tossing the mace over his shoulder, the angry vein had subsided and a smile reappeared on his face.

"Should we really resort to name calling and behave like wild animals, Filia-San?" He asked politely. Filia snorted, she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Who are you, what do you want, and how do you know my name?" She asked rudely. Sighing, the stranger in the store reached into his wet jacket and took out a gold metal badge; he showed it off to the collection of people now joining Filia's side.

"My name is Inspector Xellos Metallium." The man introduced himself.

"That's a badge from the Kataart settlement in the North." Lina noted. "If you're looking for Zel, he's right there." She pointed at the man who was hiding behind Gourry.

"I'm here on a different investigation." The inspector returned his badge into his jacket.

"What investigation- STOP THAT!" Filia shrieked when he squeezed the rest of the rain water out of ends of his shoulder length hair onto her floor.

"What investigation brought you to the East, Inspector?" Phil blocked the wanted bounty hunters from his sight.

"It is a highly classified investigation but since I am in your presence, Police Commissioner, I guess I am under authority." The man chuckled softly. Straightening his suit, he took out a slightly damp parchment and handed it to him. Everyone looked over his large shoulders. It was a wanted poster with 6 male faces posted and a reward of over $100,000 for each person, dead or alive.

"Who are they?" Amelia asked. The man named Xellos tapped his finger at the bold words on top of the paper. It read, 'The Alliance of the East'. Looking straight at the large man, he smiled.

"I have full-proof evidence that this group of dangerous men is the very culprits who are after your life."


	9. Chapter 09 Happy Inspector

Chapter 09 - Happy Inspector

Xellos Metallium sighed happily as the hot tea ran down his throat. Smacking his lips together, he reached for the pile of fresh cookies in the middle of the round table. He took a bite and hummed a very happy sound. Amelia and Phil sat next to him on the table, watching as he took his time eating and drinking. Filia, who refused to serve the tea, was sitting across the table with her arms cross tightly on her chest and a very mean glare on her face. Next to her feet, her iron mace was positioned against one of the table's leg. Gourry and Lina sat together on the kitchen counter, nibbling on their own batch of cookies, while Zelgadiss leaned against the wall with Mazenda's limbless body next to his feet. Before Xellos can reach for another cookie, Filia let out an irritated snarl and leaned over the table, her left eye was still twitching from earlier.

"THAT'S ENOUGH COOKIES." She moved the plate away from his fingertips. "TALK BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT INTO THE RAIN."

"Since you asked so nicely," Xellos retracted his hand into his damp jacket and took out a folder that was slightly wet from the rain. Lina slipped off the kitchen counter and looked over Filia's shoulder while Zelgadiss came to Amelia's side, both interested in what was in his folder.

"There were a number of mysterious deaths since the Alliance of the East arrival in Kataart." He sorted through the file. "I was able to identify all six men in the Alliance and found many disturbing indications that they were coming to Saillune for a search and destroy mission, prearranged by a hermit who goes by the name of Milgazia."

"Milgazia?" Filia and Lina loudly repeated the name.

"You know him?"

"Of course. He was one of us. Lina, Gourry, Milgazia and I were a part of an elite bounty hunting group in Zephilia, 5 years ago. That's where we all met." Lina gave a slight tremble when Filia mentioned Zephilia. "But we separated after a misfortunate outcome with a hunt-"

"Which, YOU are still in blame for, by the way."The redhead snorted loudly.

"While Lina, Gourry, and I decided to stick together and migrate to Saillune, Milgazia deserted us and went to the North."

"Milgazia is a heavy machinist expert. He was the one who converted Filia to the HGM." Lina gave Filia a sly smile, whom just rolled her eyes. "I always thought they were going to elope and hunt together for their honeymoon."

"Please," She scoffed loudly. "Milgazia had horrible leadership skills and only cared for himself."

"Sounds like someone we know." The redhead muttered off to the side. She jumped when Filia slammed her iron mace on the table, in front of her. "I-I was talking about myself!"

"So, this Milgazia-fellow," Phil looked at Xellos. "He ordered the Alliance to come to Saillune?"

"That is what the seventh member told me in his last breath." The police officer chuckled as he patted his papers together. "Then again, he could have been lying since I did have my gun in his mouth."

"But why would Milgazia want my Father dead?" Amelia asked loudly. "If he used to be a justice fighter like Lina-San, why would he order for my Father's death?" She stared at Lina and Filia intensely. Lina sighed and scratched the back of her neck.

"Look, Milgazia kept a lot of emotional baggage that none of us could really relate too. There were many times when we caught the guy torturing captured fugitives or just killing them for no apparent reason." She exchanged looks with Filia. "After we separated, I heard that he was caught sneaking into the northern borders by law enforcement and killed dozens of innocent officers, making him the most wanted-"

"WAS the most wanted." The police investigator stuffed another cookie into his mouth.

"He was caught?"

"No, he's dead." Shoving a handful of tucked-away photos in the middle of the table, everyone leaned forward slightly to see the multiple black and white photographs. It was of a decapitated body pinned against a cave wall with a solid black pole. A head with long thin hair was present in the photo, swimming in a puddle of dark liquid on the ground, it sat next to the broken pieces of a HGM. Lina stared at the picture. Slowly, she moved her pupils away and glared at the wall.

"You fucking idiot." She said softly as if Milgazia was right there with her.

"Who killed him?" Filia's eyes lingered on the photos with a broken expression.

"Who knows?" Xellos reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a blood-stained letter. He placed the folded paper in front of Lina. "Don't shoot the messenger." Lina scoffed at his statement and unfolded the letter. She recognized the writing as Milgazia's.

_Search and Destroy. Philionel El Di Saillune. Lithium._

Lina crumpled the letter in her hand and threw it at the photos. She turned her head to Xellos when he released a soft chuckle. Watching him drink his cup of tea for awhile, Lina found no hint of anything on his happy face. This guy was good at not showing his emotions.

"Were the scary lady and the fast robot guy part of the Alliance too?" Gourry asked with a mouthful of cookies.

"If you mean, Mazenda and Kanzel as the scary lady and the fast robot guy…" Gourry nodded. Xellos moved through his papers and took out an enlarged photograph of one of the six faces of the Alliances. It was a picture of an old man with a wild white beard, his eyes slightly bugged out of his sockets. "They're origins are unknown but there is Doctor Diol. He is an engineer from Zephilia who specializes in metal fusions and is credited as the East's brightest mad scientist."

"When did the Alliance take interests in old mad scientists?" Zelgadiss flipped through the contents of the file with Amelia looking over his shoulder.

"Right after they tried to recruit Lina-San and Gourry-San, they thought the only things that are better than the Bandit Killer and her Idiot Stooge would be robots."

"They thought wrong." Lina pointed at the limbless body of Mazenda against the wall with a proud smirk.

"I noticed." He said without glancing at the pathetic dead body. As he allowed everyone to look through his papers, Filia frequently glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. This man looked familiar for some reason. Unable to pinpoint the source, she disregarded the idea altogether and continued to look through the pages of notes.

"Xellos," Lina held a sheet of paper with handwritten notes. "You were the one who wrote that letter, weren't you?"

"Letter?" The purple-haired man tilted his head to the side. "Hmm? What letter?"

"The letter that warned us about Phil's assassination attempt." She passed his notes and took out the said-letter from her vest pocket. "You wrote that, didn't you?" Lina shoved the neatly scripted letter at Xellos's face. Chuckling, Xellos just shrugged his shoulders.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing my job, would I?"

"If you didn't write that letter and warn us about the assassination, Phil would've gone unprotected during the assassination."

"That's right." Amelia gasped, she reached over and grabbed Xellos's gloved hands, in which he lifted an eyebrow. "Thank you, Xellos-San! You are a savior! Certainly, you are a Justice Fighter like all of us!"

"I was just following my orders." He slipped his hands out of Amelia's tight grip and scooted his chair away from her, only to get an arm wrapped around his shoulders by Phil.

"You are welcomed to my dinner table, my boy." The heavy man shook the damp man. Xellos chuckled timidly and pushed himself out of Phil's arm.

"No need to thank me-"

"Good because you still owe me $5500 for the destroyed merchandise." Filia said loudly with her nose in the air.

"$5500?" The man repeated. "If I do recall, I broke only 17 clay pottery at $150 each, and 14 glass vases at $200. I owe only $5350." Reaching into his black suit pocket, he took his gold monocle and gently began to clean it with the end of his cleaning cloth.

"I guess it's true what they say about blondes," He said loudly. Blowing the dust off the lens, he placed his monocle over his left eye and smiled big. "They are as dumb as they are beautiful."

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE THIS MINUTE, YOU NAMAGOMI!"

* * *

"I haven't seen Filia get that twitchy and mad since the last time we didn't get the bounty." Huddled in the living room over a small coffee table on the hardwood floor, everyone was forced out the kitchen so Filia can take her frustration out while cooking breakfast. Lina elbowed Xellos in his ribs and gave him an angry look.

"Shut your mouth or she'll bring out the HGM."

"I was just stating facts, Lina-San." Xellos cheerfully replied.

"Those facts are not the nicest things to say, Xellos-San." Amelia whispered next to him. "Even if it is true, you shouldn't say it."

"So you want me to lie, than rather tell her the truth? Now, is that really just? LYING to a friend?" He leaned slightly forward, his eyebrows bouncing off his head.

"Um, well I… I don't-"

"A Justice Fighter does not lie to their friends." The man slightly opened his amethyst eyes. "I guess I was wrong about you. You don't fight for justice, do you, Amelia-San?"

"I-I don't?" She squeaked. "B-But I-I-I-I… Justice… I-I-I-"

"Anybody who lies to their friend is an unjust evil CRIMINAL." The last word struck her already failing heart. Xellos sighed, his head shaking as he rounded up his stack of papers. "I guess I would have to alert the authorities about you too, you big LIAR."

"MY HEART!" She squeaked as she cupped her chest, above her failing muscle.

"Shut up!" Lina slammed the police man's head against the table.

"I-I'm go-going to… PRISON?" Amelia's hands grabbed at her father's suit jacket.

"No, he is just making fun-"

"Actually, I'm not." Xellos leaned over with a big bump on his forehead. "I AM going to alert the authorities about your constant lying and Lina-San's assault." He commented while writing into a notepad. Tapping his pencil on the pad, he gave Lina and Amelia a cheerful smile. "Anything else you would like me to add onto your record?"

"R-RECORD?" Amelia shrieked and fell to the ground. Snarling at him, Lina kept her lips closed and sat back on her bottom. That's right; this big-mouth bastard is a police man. She needed to keep her hands, mouth, and revolvers under control. She had enough shit on her record already. Laying Amelia's body out on the floor, next to the group, Gourry fanned her with a piece of cloth while the rest continued their conversation about the Alliance.

"Inspector Metallium," Phil placed his hand over his knee, his cowboy hat slightly tipped forward. "What is it that you want to accomplish here?"

"Accomplish?"

"You're an inspector from Kataart. This is Saillune. You crossed over to the Eastern border, you are out of your jurisdiction thus you hold no authority here." He crossed his large arms. "According to general law, if a criminal leaves the border, the investigation is moved to wherever border that criminal is in. So, why are you here? What is it that you want to accomplish here?" The Police Commissioner questioned. Smiling, Xellos swirled the liquid in his clay teacup and released a soft chuckle.

"Why, Commissioner Saillune, do you not trust your fellow law enforcement?"

"I trust that you have great intentions and I thank you for giving early warning about the assassination-"

"But you want to know why I came down here when I could've just sent a telegram, right?" Xellos asked.

"Exactly." Phil nodded with an innocent smile. Lifting his solid black cane, he shoved the end at Lina's pointy nose.

"I devote myself in my work, Commissioner." Teasingly tapping the end of his cane against the tip of her nose, Lina snapped her jaws at the black cane and glared at him deathly. He switched to Zelgadiss and began to poke at his chest, in which Zelgadiss slapped it away and Xellos shook his head to him, the pencil in his hand moved across his notepad.

"This is my case and I am not about to hand it over to someone who has no idea what they are getting themselves into." He looked at Phil and smiled. "No offense to your department."

"None taken." The Police Commissioner waved his hand. "I understand your reason, Inspector Metallium, and I will allow your insubordination."

"Thank you, Commissioner Saillune-"

"On one exception," He stopped him from talking. "While you are in Saillune, you are answering under Filia-Dono and will be included in the bounty hunting group, understand?"

"Hmm?" Xellos touched the end of his chin with the handle of his cane and turned his head toward the kitchen. Filia had already turned away before he spotted her staring at the back of his head. He stared at her elegant figure and tilted his head to the side, his eyes looking over her tall and slender body.

"Can I sleep with Filia-San?" He suddenly asked aloud.

"YOU DISGUSTING, PERVERTED, FREAK-OF-NATURE!" Filia spun around and threw her cleaver at him. He didn't flinch when the knife struck in between his fingers wrapped loosely around his cane while Lina and Phil jumped back. Looking down at the cleaver, he lifted only his eyes at Filia and smiled provocatively.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"DISGUSTING NAMAGOMI." She commented and turned back to her counter.

"Oh yeah," Xellos turned his body back to everyone else, a pulsed vein plastered on his temple. "That's a yes."

"So, NAMAGOMI," Lina emphasized his nickname. "Do you have a plan to take the Alliance down?"

"I was hoping you had one, Lina-San." He picked out the cleaver out of his wooden cane and placed it flat on the table. "You are known as a genius, so don't prove me wrong."

"Genius?" Lina smirked. "I'm a fucking prodigy."

"Alright, prodigy," Zelgadiss rolled his eyes. "Think of a plan."

"I already got one." Spreading out the enlarged separate photos of the Alliance on the table top, she ordered Gourry to wake Amelia and screamed for Filia to listen.

"I'm listening!" She called back over her burning kettle.

"Look." Lina grabbed a blank paper and began to draw horrible figures of everyone. "They're after Phil so why don't we give him to them?"

"Our job is to prevent the Alliance from killing Phil. How is giving Phil to them supposed to keep him alive?" Zelgadiss asked loudly, he moved some of his long silver bangs away from his face and revealed his burns. He noticed Xellos looking at him and quickly shook his head, moving the bangs back to normal. But he had seen the permanent scarring already. Xellos just smirked at Zelgadiss, making him wince. Other than Phil, he was never comfortable around law enforcement. And this guy was making Zelgadiss very uncomfortable.

"The only reason why the Alliance hasn't been making a move is because of us." Lina pointed out. "We've been next to Phil's side constantly, but if we were to single him out, than they are bound to come out and play." Looking over Lina's shoulders, Filia raised her eyebrow to see a horribly drawn picture of herself.

"What is that?" Gourry pointed at a thing that was next to her pencil.

"It's you." Then the redhead glared at him. "What did you think it was?" He zipped his lips together and said nothing back. As Lina explained her entire plan to her team, she looked up when Xellos tapped his cane at the person next to the large ball-creature that was said to be Phil.

"Who's this thing?"

"This thing," Lina smirked. "This thing is another one of my stooges."

* * *

He thought this was going to be the date of the lifetime. That was what he thought but…

"This is Filia-Dono's son, Val." Phil wrapped an arm around Val's pointy shoulders; he pulled the sighing teenager to his side as he introduced him to the gather of people around him. It was the grand opening of the brand new restaurant. The same restaurant that Amelia asked him to go to but, Val turned his head to the side where Amelia was standing. She was here alright, but she was with Zelgadiss. Not wearing her usual loose white dress, Amelia had on a red half-sleeve corset dress with white gloves and her short raven hair was pinned up very elegantly. Even Zelgadiss had changed into a dark red suit with a black tie tucked under his vest to match with Amelia.

Why, Val dropped his head, why is he Phil's date and not the lovely Amelia's? Oh right, he groaned slightly, it was a part of the plan. The four walked in first as the restaurant opened its front doors first time, Amelia's arm draped around Zelgadiss's left forearm. As the waiters lead Phil and Val to the large center table, Amelia and Zelgadiss was taken to a smaller table near the front.

"Thank you." Amelia sat down as the seat was pulled out for her.

"No problem, Amelia." Gourry smiled in his white and black uniform.

"Don't get out of character, Gourry." Amelia's date snorted, he sat in the seat across from her and picked the black cowboy hat off his head. "They're around here somewhere."

"Don't be so uptight, Zelgadiss-San." Taking the menu from Gourry's apron, she flipped it open and looked it over. "Try to relax and have some fun." Zelgadiss sighed and accepted his menu from Gourry. More people walked into the restaurant and was seated everywhere. His eyes moved around over the menu, he tried to find any familiar faces that recognized on the wanted posters. He stopped when his eyes went on Amelia. She looked completely different in front of him. He never saw her hair pinned up or wear this much make-up. It made her older and graceful, which was unlike her usual adorable and childish looks. Zelgadiss watched her with stern serious eyes. He kept his severe expression when she noticed him. Amelia dropped her menu on her lap and fully met his eyes.

"Is something the matter?" Drumming his fingers against the table, he finally lowered his eyes to his menu and cleared his dry curious throat.

"You initially asked Val out for tonight?"

"Oh, yes," Amelia turned her head to the sighing teenager at the center of the restaurant and giggled. "I feel bad that he needs to eat dinner with Daddy when I originally asked him but oh well, I will make it up to him."

"Make it up to him." He repeated slightly agitated, one of his eyebrows began to twitch. "You mean, you're going to ask him out on a date again?"

"Why would I ask him on a date?"

"Because," His unnerving fingertips continued to loudly tap against the table. He pretended to be uninterested as his eyes kept moving around his menu. "Because you obviously have feelings for the boy, why else would you ask him out for tonight?"

"Well, it's true that I asked Val-Kun out for tonight." Amelia suddenly admitted. He swore he felt his heart broke into two and fell to the ends of his stomach. "But only as a friend." Zelgadiss looked up instantly from his menu and stared at her with slightly widen eyes, his fingers stopped tapping.

"Val-Kun and I are only good friends, Zelgadiss-San." She gave him a wink with a great big grin. "There is nothing to be worried about."

"Worried?" He said rather loudly, a slightly blush had formed over his face. "W-Why would I be worried? There is nothing for me to be worried about. NOTHING." Telling himself that, Zelgadiss looked back at his menu with a sigh of relief while Amelia stared at him. She saw the developed smile on his face and grew a bigger one. The made-up beauty knew there was a reason behind why he was so distant and insisted that their table was as far away from Val and Phil's table. It was because he wanted to get her alone and confront her about her friendship with Val-Kun. She giggled. When will Zelgadiss-San realize that there is only one man she wants to be with? Oh well, Amelia giggled again, in due time.

"My, what a beautiful couple!" Filia sneaked over to the table with a cat-like smile, she had the same uniform like Gourry. "This must be your first date. What an honor to see you two together for the first time."

"Shut up." The overwhelmed blushing bounty hunter snarled, steam fizzed out of his head. "People can hear your annoying loud voice."

"Well," The tall disguised waitress scoffed and placed her hands to her hips. "If you're going to keep being nasty, Amelia may not want to go on a second date with you, Zelgadiss."

"D-Date?" His blush only got bigger. This was a DATE? He thought it was a plan to drive the Alliance out!

"Oh, Filia-San, stop teasing Zelgadiss-San!" Playfully slapping her boss on the elbow, Amelia laughed softly with a blush.

"I'm just saying." Filia took out her notepad from her apron and pencil out of her pinned-up hair bun. "You spent 4 hours making yourself beautiful and for what? For a foul-mouthed date? If I were you, I would dump him and stay single. Now, what are you kids going to have for dinner?" As Amelia ordered and Zelgadiss was busy thinking up lines, Gourry walked around the packed restaurant, his eyes moving from face to face. Nobody in here looked or resembled anybody like the 6 wanted men. Turning around, he went to the only empty table in the restaurant next to the window. He poked his head out and made a soft bird call using his lips. Lina looked out from inside of a wooden large barrel across the street and watched Gourry make strange hand gestures around his face. After a few signals, Lina growled when he drew his tongue out and wagged it at her.

"What the hell is that Idiot doing? We're just across the street. He doesn't need to make those stupid hand signals." She gave him her own ridiculous facial expression.

"I believe he's telling us that the Alliance has not arrived yet." Xellos mentioned with his head looking over Lina's shoulder.

"Keep your position, Gourry." Lina hissed with her hands cupped around her mouth. "Xellos and I will continue to stay out here. Tell the others to keep both eyes open." Giving her a thumbs-up, Gourry returned into the restaurant.

"I guess the rumors were true." Xellos chuckled next to her. They sink back into the wooden barrel and kept their backs pressed against each other.

"I'm assuming those rumors are about me." Lina rolled her eyeballs. "Well, be more specific. There are tons of rumors spread across Red Orb about me."

"But none about your relationship with Gourry-San, I wonder why." He mentioned. Keeping both eyes on the single hole in front of her, Lina just snorted.

"Because there is nothing going on between me and the idiot." After a few minutes of just silence, Lina was deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear Xellos turning around in his half of the wooden barrel. He moved so close to her that his mouth was just millimeters behind her ear.

"Do you not UNDERSTAND the meaning of PERSONAL SPA-" Just as her head turned with her fist raised, Lina stopped the instant she saw how close Xellos was to her. His lips were practically just a hairline away. Her eyes widen when he brought his hands against the wooden barrel next to her shoulders, keeping her from moving away.

"I've been watching you and your team for a good while, Lina-San." His eyes flickered a shade of raw emotion that got Lina to gulp. "Especially you."

"I'm flattered, Inspector." The redhead smirked; she pretended to not be fazed by his closeness. "So, you have a little crush on the most dangerous woman in the East?"

"You can say that." He moved his hand behind her back and pulled her body forward, making her feel his groin. Lina bit her tongue, stopping her from blushing. She never felt another man's junk other than Gourry. Even if it is through his pants, Lina could tell how hard this inspector was for her.

"You sure know how to impress a lady." She spread a seductive smile across her face.

"You should see me in bed." Xellos lowered his hand just above her buttocks, his fingertips fiddled around the strap of her belt. "Or perhaps, later tonight?" Deep in her head, she began to scream at herself. What the HELL are you doing, you Idiot? You are with Gourry! You and Gourry! YOU AND GOURRY! But, Lina stared at Xellos's seductive and lustful smile, she just told him that there was nothing going on between her and Gourry. That's because that's your defense mechanism, her mind snapped. You were always denying your feelings for Gourry! Right now, is the perfect time to stop denying and admit it! YOU AND GOURRY ARE IN LOVE!

"Later tonight?" Lina moved her hands up from the sides of her body and wrapped it around Xellos's neck. "Why don't you show me, right now?" She pulled him down to her lips and moaned the moment his tongue entered her mouth. He tasted different. He moved different. He was different. He wasn't as gentle and loving like Gourry was. Xellos was more raw and lusting. After a hungry taste of each other's mouth, Xellos unlaced the front of Lina's red blouse and moved his head down.

What is her relationship with Gourry? That was all Lina could think about as Xellos sucked and licked her hard nipples. True, they have sex when they get a chance but unlike any other couple, they didn't admit their feelings towards each other yet. A harsh moan left Lina's lips when Xellos nibbled on her small breasts, teasing and pinching with his teeth. Her fingers curled into Xellos's hair with every intense pleasure she felt as his teeth tortured her nipples.

Hell, Lina didn't know if Gourry felt the same for her as she did for him. They've met during a hunt and became partners since they were so compatible with each other. One thing lead to another and what started off as a great partnership turned into heavy sexual desire that exploded that one night when Lina begged him to stay by her side. Xellos made sure to take his gloves off before entering Lina's wet and hot lips, he snickered when she let out a sharp moan. Her entire thought process went blank when his fingers dug deep inside of her, looking and wandering for that special spot. It only took seconds when he found it and her entire body went rigid. His mouth went to her ear and began to say real provocative lines that Lina couldn't understand. She was too lost in her own pleasure. With every push, claw, pinch, and grind that this man did, it sent her spasms of explosive measures.

Catastrophic feelings that even Gourry couldn't make her feel. It felt so good that Lina looked down to see if it really was only his fingers and not anything else. It only took half a minute for her to orgasm and another half a minute to orgasm a second time. Panting heavily against Xellos's chest, Lina looked up at his smirking face and blushed. This wasn't his first rodeo at all. He was really good. Moving positions, her eyes grew wide when Xellos opened his pants for her. His manhood stuck out just for her. It was thick and long. At the tip, there was already cum seeping out. She went on her knees and took the massive thing in her hand.

"Suck it." The man brought his hand to her shoulder and pulled her closer, the tip of his penis tapped against her cheek spreading his pre-cum. Never would Gourry order her to suck his penis. He would never order her around or tell her to do such nasty things. "Suck my penis."

"I-I don't know-" She was quickly interrupted when Xellos shoved his manhood into her mouth and down her throat. She wanted to throw up. This was the first time she had a male's genitals inside of her mouth and it was probably going to be her last. Struggling to keep her food down, Lina allowed him to control her head. She did nothing as he pumped his unfamiliar penis in and out of her mouth.

All she could think about was her first night in Saillune as an unwanted fugitive and begging Gourry to be with her. She thought they were never going to stop running but when they arrived in Saillune with Filia and her adopted son, they were finally able to sleep in warm beds and rest their tired bodies. Unfortunately, she and Gourry never stopped roaming their curious hands around each other's unknown territory throughout that night.

Xellos got faster. He was close. Lina opened her eyes slightly to see his expression. His eyes were vibrant and raw, filled with aggression and uncontrollable limitation. For some reason, the redhead knew that this is not going to be her last encounter with this inspector's lust. Lowering her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Gourry from the window through the hole on the wooden barrel and watched him talk joyfully to a table of fat customers.

What are they really? They are partners at work, best friends during days off, and lovers when they were alone. So, which is it? Are they partners? Best friends? Are they lovers? Lina gasped when Xellos shoved her aggressively off his penis and splattered his white thick substance all over her face. Raising her fingertips to the line of cum across her cheek, she touched it carefully and looked at it.

What are they? They were Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. Lina opened her mouth and licked the white juice off her fingertips. They were nothing but Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. Two people who worked, hung out, and had sex with one another. Nothing more, nothing less.


	10. Chapter 10 Innocent Criminals

Chapter 10 - Innocent Criminals

"Lina-San? Hello? Are you there?" Tapping against Lina's shoulder from behind, Xellos tilted his head to the side when the redhead shook her head wildly and turned around quickly, her red dagger in hand and ready for anything.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" She frantically asked as she hysterically looked around her.

"You didn't answer my question." The inspector informed her, quickly snapping her back to reality.

"A-A-Answer what?"

"The rumors." Staring at him for a long while, Lina lowered her eyes at her body. Her clothes were still on. Moving her fingers over her face, she felt nothing. Did she just daydream it all? Lina looked up at Xellos, who was still staring at her with slightly raised eyebrows. He watched her grabbed his black suit jacket and ripped it open, allowing her to look over his covered body. Did she just daydream of doing sexual activities with this man? But, Lina's throat went dry, it felt so real. She distinctly remembered moaning loud, using her mouth for his pleasure, and experiencing his teasing bites on the nubs of her nipples like a chew toy. Did she really create all that in her mind?

"My eyes are up here, Lina-San." Xellos took Lina's chin with his gloved fingers and tilted her head up, making her look at him. He gave her a handsome smile and her face instantly got hot. He gave her the same smile when he had his fingers deep inside of her. She can still feel his steamy breath brushing against her ear as he whispered sexy murmurs of lust while his fingers tortured her. Feeling the spreading liquid running through her lower lips just from recollecting her dream, Lina uncomfortably pulled away from his hand, an expression of doubt on her face.

"I-I was… checking on something."

"On my body?" He said with that annoying, sexy smile.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" Turning around so fast that her ponytail slapped him across his face, Lina crossed her arms over her chest and looked through the tiny peek hole that was on her side of the barrel. "Go back to staring at your hole! The Alliance of the East can come any second!"

"My, my, my, so angry." Xellos turned back around with Lina's red hair still sprawled over his face, he return to polishing the round ruby stone at the top of his solid black cane. "You don't have to be so rude. I was merely stating facts."

"I don't want to hear it." Lina snorted loudly. He sighed and continued to polish his stone. Crouching between her bent legs, Lina placed her chin over her knees. What the hell is going on? Why the hell did she daydream those nasty and dirty deeds with Xellos, of all people? Almost immediately, her eyes got slightly hurt.

In her daydream, her mind was screaming at her. Telling her over and over again that she was in love with Gourry but she ignored it and willingly gave her body to Xellos. Why did she dream of having sex with him and not with Gourry? Is her mind and heart telling her two different things? Is her mind telling her that she is in love and her heart, showing her a different thing that she is not?

No, Lina instantly shook those questions out of her head. She IS in love with Gourry. She has been since their first hunt together. They've just been so busy with protecting Phil that they haven't had sex since the day he left with Zelgadiss to chase after that criminal, weeks prior. It was lack of sex, Lina mentally told herself with a pout. And really, Lina looked over her shoulder and watched Xellos polishing his ruby stone; of all people… she would NEVER be so desperate to have sex with this shithead. He's fucking law enforcement. He was like the same group of shitheads who made her, Gourry, and Filia run to Saillune with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Turning back to the hole on the barrel, Lina let out a sigh of relief and simply let the daydream disappear in the darkness of her mind.

* * *

"I don't think they are coming." Filia leaned against the edge of Amelia and Zelgadiss's table. "Some of the customers have left for home and there is nobody who looks anything like the wanted men."

"I don't understand." Amelia cleaned her bowl of ice cream and pushed it away from her. "Daddy announced to everyone in the town meeting that he believed that the threat for his life was over and he was coming to this grand opening, unguarded. The Alliance would've been there to hear it."

"It's us." Zelgadiss kept his eyes moving to every gentleman's face. "They recognize us."

"The only people they should recognize are Lina and Gourry but with all that hair combed out of his face, Gourry looks like a whole different person and Lina is outside hiding with the Namagomi." Filia had already made an invisible rule to never mention that Karaat Inspector by his first name, ever. Sighing, Zelgadiss turned his body towards the center table, grabbing the attention of Val. He gave a certain motion with his hand, signaling him for plan B, in which Val nodded and asked for the check.

"Let's get out of here." Zelgadiss stood up and motioned for Gourry to follow. The team left the restaurant to regroup with their team leader while Amelia joined with her father nearby the front doors.

"What is going on, Amelia?" Phil asked softly.

"We think that the Alliance recognized us." She opened her purse to pay for her bill. "We're going to regroup and think of another plan." Just as she was about to give the shop owner a wad of cash, the front doors of the restaurant opened and a group of beautiful women of different sizes walked in. Walking in the front was a young woman with long red hair, looking fairly similar to Lina; she had on a pair of brown tight pants and a white tank top with a dark brown cowboy hat and thick gloves. There was a large covered sword that was strapped around her back. Next to her was a slightly taller older woman, bangs chopped above her eyes and dark purple hair pulled back into a ponytail. This woman had on an unusual white dress that stopped above her knees and had a black sash around her waist with three long swords strapped. Beside her, a tall woman with pink hair with pigtails wore a very worried expression on her face. Wearing a long black and pink dress with long sleeves, it dragged slightly behind her heels.

Amelia stared at the three women with suspicion, especially at the young woman in the front. It was probably because other than Lina-San, this woman was the second person she ever saw who wore pants in public. Combing her long red hair with her fingers, the girl tossed her head back and smiled wickedly. She even looked like Lina.

"Well, girls," Her two cohorts tilted their heads to their smaller comrade. "Time for this party to begin." Amelia's eyes widen, she gasped when she heard loud commotion from the back of the restaurant. She turned her head to the kitchen and saw three other women standing at the doorway to the kitchen. One was the obvious oldest member in the group. Towering over the other girls, the orange-haired older woman had her hair made into a large bun on top of her head with a long navy dress, in her hand with a large iron club. The two girls standing on each side of her were identical twins with long purple hair. Wearing the same maroon and black lace saloon dresses that lifted mid-thigh in front and dragged long lengths behind black 4-inch heels, one twin had a black feather while the other had a white one tucked in their long hair.

Amelia looked around the restaurant. The entire team was outside and possibly leaving at this very moment. Biting her lower lip, she watched the woman with pants walk over to her and her father, who was conversing with a lad in his police force.

"Why, hello, there." Amelia kept her position between her and Phil, her arms extended to prevent her from getting any closer.

"Please." Amelia whispered, her eyes glancing from the three in front of her and the three women behind her. "Stop this."

"Unfortunately, I don't take orders from Daddy's girl." The small woman looked past Amelia and to one of the twins with the black feather. "Do it, Mimi." Mimi lifted her dress higher up her leg and revealed a black thigh holster that held a fairly large revolver. She took it out and raised the end of it to the roof. Releasing three bullets, the entire restaurant screamed and everyone ducked under their tables. Once the eatery got quiet, Mimi returned her gun back into her holster and nodded to her leader.

"Thank you for coming, Ladies and Gentlemen!" The leader announced loudly. Lifting her hands into the air, the redhead spread a large smile across her face. "WE are the ALLIANCE OF THE EAST." Phil's eyes grew; he had his arms blocking a young family of multiple children from their view.

"My name is Marlene." She grabbed her large double-handed sword out of its sheath and set it on her shoulder. "Team leader of this delicious group of powerful women from all over the East, let me introduce you to my comrades." Marlene turned her body to the two ladies standing at the blocked front entrance.

"Over there with the three rapiers," The beautiful woman with intense and aggressive eyes took out two rapier swords and carried each of them in her hands. "Her name is Remii. Deadly with a sword and coupled with her gorgeous looks, she is a master swordswoman and can kill anybody in a half a second."

"It's a pleasure." Remii bowed her body forward.

"The worry-wart next to her is Laia." The taller woman with pink pigtails smiled nervously, a slight blush appearing over her face. "But don't be deceived by this apprehensive character, Laia is the smartest and most trustworthy woman I know. And did I mention," From under her long dress skirt, an abundant of miniature robots rushed out and began to create havoc in the restaurant. "She is a mad scientist?"

"Not mad, Marlene-Chan." Laia said with such tenseness. "I prefer to be called an inventor-"

"Inventor of useless things." The woman with the iron club snorted making Laia frown.

"Oh yes, this is Gioconda-" Marlene was quickly interrupted when the woman cleared her throat loudly; a slight glare appeared on the older woman's face. "I mean, this is DUCHESS Gioconda."

"Much better." Duchess Gioconda smirked. Crossing her arms over her chest, the woman tapped her long fingernails on her iron weapon as she stared at Amelia intensely.

"And we're the incredible acrobat twins," The twin with the white feather in her hair moved next to her sister and pressed their backs against each other. "My name is Nene, master martial artist and chosen weapon," Reaching between her cleavage, she slipped out a stiletto dagger and ran it up her throat to her bottom lips. "Dagger."

"My name is Mimi, master martial artist and weapon of choice," Mimi wrapped a loose arm around her sister's neck and grinded her pelvis against her as she lifted her dress to allow everyone to see the gun that was strapped on her thigh. "Revolver."

"Twins." Gioconda rolled her eyes.

"Now that we are properly introduced," Marlene walked around Amelia and stepped in front of her father, Phil just kept his position in front of the young family of children. "The show won't get good unless someone volunteers." She moved her thick blade next to Phil's head and smiled.

"Would you like to be my little helper, Police Commissioner?"

"If I go with you, you will leave everyone out of this?" He asked.

"As long as nobody gets in the way," With a snap of her fingers, Mimi and Nene cartwheel past them and stopped next to Amelia, they grabbed Phil's daughter by the arm and pressed their weapons to her neck. "Your precious daughter will be safe."

"Amelia!" Phil moved but only to have Marlene push him against the wall with her blade.

"Don't worry about me, Daddy," Amelia smiled at her father confidently. "I'll be fine."

"Listen to her, Daddy." Marlene chuckled and motioned him to follow her with her finger. "Now, follow me or you'll never see your precious daughter alive ever again." Wincing at her threat, Phil obediently walked after the small woman to the front entrance with Gioconda behind him, her iron club on her side.

"Now, do you REALLY think it's going to be THAT easy?" The Alliance stopped the instant they heard her voice. It was the voice of Lina Inverse. They looked around the restaurant but were unable to spot her.

"Remii. Laia." Marlene called them and the two ladies ran around the crowded eatery. The small robots bounced from chandelier to chandelier, looking high and low for the most dangerous woman in the East.

"She's not here, Marlene." Laia returned unsuccessfully.

"SEARCH AGAIN." Locking the front doors, Marlene shoved Phil against the wall and kept in front of him. "When you find her, don't attack. It will only provoke her. I will handle her."

"You sound so confident. Reminds me of someone." Lina laughed, her voice echoed throughout the restaurant.

"Like who, Lina?" Gourry asked, even his voice echoed the eatery.

"Like me, Idiot. Now, shut up." She snapped at him. Clearing her throat, Lina and Gourry kept their positions in the dark room above the restaurant. Through the cracks, she glanced at Filia and Zelgadiss, who had managed to slip back into the restaurant and pretended to be like the scared customers under the table. "You're up against the best. Why don't you give up?"

"The Alliance of the East NEVER gives up!" Marlene snarled, snapping her fingers again to Mimi who pulled back the hammer of her revolver. "Now, come out or the precious baby will get her head blown into pieces!"

"Amelia." Lina called her and Amelia moved her head in response. "You're not going to stand for that, are you?" Growing a large smile, Amelia released a soft giggle and with a sudden twist of her body, she shoved the dagger and revolver away from her neck and to the ceiling, exactly where Lina and Gourry were hidden. Mimi pulled the trigger and the bullet zipped just past Gourry's hand, making him yelp a loud.

"UP THERE!" The team leader pointed above her. "THEY ARE UP THERE! SHOOT!"

"Not so fast!" Zelgadiss leaped out from under the table, in each hand was his gun. With one pointed at Marlene and the other at the closet person with a weapon which was Remii, he smirked when they froze. "You shoot and you're dead."

"Not if I can't help it!" Laia shouted and pulled her dress skirt up to her knees. "Go my Gollum bots!" A flood of robots that looked like it was made from rocks poured out of her dress and rushed at Zelgadiss. Blasting his rounds at them, he was able to destroy as much rounds he had in his bullet chamber. He was soon covered in the tiny robots, hitting and overpowering him.

"Take this!" Duchess Gioconda leaped into the air with her iron club over her head. She was aiming for Zelgadiss but was blocked by Filia's own iron spiked mace.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Filia smirked; the mace shook just as Gioconda's club shook with it. "You're fight is with me."

"Then let's go, grandma." Gioconda snarled. A sudden gasp left Filia's lips, shoving Gioconda off her mace and jumping back to create distance between them, Filia pointed her iron weapon at her opponent.

"GRANDMA? I AM A WOMAN OF THIRTY! WHAT ARE YOU? YOU ARE THE GRANDMA!"

"HOW DARE YOU? I AM A DUCHESS!"

"A DUCHESS WHO WEARS LAYERS UPON LAYERS OF PAINT!" Filia insulted. Aggravated, Gioconda rushed forward and began the duel. Unable to get his sword, Zelgadiss had a difficult time with the rock robots covering his body, he growled when he spotted Remii sprinting at him with both rapiers extended.

"I got you, Zel!" Breaking through the ceiling, Gourry jumped in between Zelgadiss and Remii, he easily blocked her two rapiers with his one sword. Remii looked over Gourry's handsome face and at the double-edge sword that he was carrying. She smirked and jumped a few feet back, making space.

"You must be Gourry Gabriev."

"You know me?" Gourry pointed to himself.

"Of course, I know you. You are the best swordsman in this known planet." Moving both rapiers in one hand, she grabbed her third sword on her hip and smiled. "But do you know who the best swordswoman in this planet is?"

"Who?" He tilted his head.

"That's me." She opened her mouth and set her third rapier in her mouth, allowing her to use three swords at the same time. Gourry yelped when she lunged forward and dodged the two rapiers in her hand, his sword blocking the third one that was swinging at his head.

"L-Lady!" He turned tail and began to run around the restaurant, refusing to fight a woman. Meanwhile, Lina landed in front of Marlene and smiled big, one hand on her hip and the other occupied with her revolver.

"So," Marlene winced at the sudden appearance of the great Bandit Killer. "Are you going to give up or will I have to wash your blood off my clothes tonight?"

"I told you before," The team leader of the Alliance growled. She got off of Phil and rushed at Lina, swinging her heavy thick sword with both hands. "THE ALLIANCE WILL NEVER GIVE UP!" Dodging the slow moving blade, Lina was able to jump out of the way and watched the girl stumble forward when her heavy blade broke a wooden table into pieces. She looked over her opponent. This chick is the team leader of the incredible Alliance of the East? What happened to the wanted photos that Xellos showed her? They were supposed to be all men.

More importantly, Lina scanned around the restaurant, where the hell is he anyways? One second he was in the wooden barrel they were sharing and the next second, he vanished just when shit began to happen!

"That flake!" Lina dodged another heavy attack from Marlene easily. When she finds that useless cop, she's going to teach him a lesson that he will never forget! Beside her, Amelia had Mimi pinned against the floor with her legs while blocking every attack that her twin sister was throwing at her. She hissed when the blade in Nene's hand slashed against her cheek, Amelia grabbed the twin's wrist and flipped her over her shoulder. Her tight dress was slowing her down. Gourry and Zelgadiss spun their head when they heard clothing ripping, a big blush appearing on their faces.

"This dress is so tight!" The petite woman ripped her red dress off her body, revealing her black lace bra and black tight mini-shorts. Lifting herself off of Mimi, she stretched her thin body and cracked her joints. Her hands were quickly covered in her leather black fingerless gloves; she shook the pins out from her hair and was able to move her body again. She was back to her usual tomboy appearance and it sent gallons of blood rushing out of Zelgadiss's nose that Gourry had to catch him from collapsing.

"Give me a BREAK." Lina rolled her eyes to see all the men in the restaurant staring intently at Amelia's thin and slender body. It was a free strip tease. Noticing them too, Zelgadiss twirled his head at them and snarled loudly, even though he was watching too.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" He snapped and they fearfully looked away from Amelia's revealing body. Once the robots were finally off him, Zelgadiss removed his black jacket and tossed it to her. "WEAR IT, NOW!" He couldn't fight with a half-naked girl next to him. Especially when the half-naked girl is his date!

"But, Zelgadiss-San," Amelia blocked Mimi and Nene's flying kicks with just her one forearm. "If I wear this, it will slow me down-"

"WEAR THE DAMN THING OR I'M GOING TO SQUEEZE YOUR TITS UNTIL IT POPS!" Lina's scream overlapped Zelgadiss's protest.

"Lina-San, you are so mean to Amelia-Chan!" She cried and quickly pulled the jacket on.

"CLOSET PERVERT!" The redhead jumped to the side when Marlene slashed her heavy sword at her.

"This is getting fucking STUPID!" The team leader of the Alliance snarled. Whistling for her teammates, her gang looked up at her instantly. "Retreat!"

"But what about-"

"I SAID, RETREAT NOW! WE CAN COME AFTER THE TARGET ANOTHER TIME!" Marlene screamed and her entire team pulled back next to her. The bounty hunters rounded beside Phil, blocking the Alliance from taking him.

"GET BACK HERE AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!" Lina shouted after them as they all sprinted out of the restaurant. Laia stopped just outside of the doors and unleashed another flood of miniature robots that jumped at the bounty hunters, preventing them from running after them. Lina snarled as the Alliance ran off into the darkness, she looked back at Filia who had managed to get all the mini robots off her.

"Stop them!" Filia nodded and separated from the rest of her friends.

* * *

Near the edge of town, the Alliance stopped for a breather next to an iron smith store. Panting for air, the girls leaned against each other as the twins were on the lookout.

"This operation is getting too risky." Laia was the first to speak. She straightened her body and looked at her small team leader. "We need to get more help-"

"What help?" Remii snorted immediately. "WE'RE the last ones alive, remember?"

"But if we contact the Alliance of the South, we can have a chance-"

"They're dead, Laia." Gioconda placed her heavy club on the ground and leaned her tall body on the side of the store. "They're all dead."

"We can't possibly be the last ones alive-"

"Look!" Marlene snapped loudly and turned her head to the worried girl beside her. "Our allies, families, and friends," She paused for a second to swallow her last wad of spit. "They are all DEAD."

"T-They can't be ALL dead." Laia whispered with a tear developing. "H-How can we… How can we do this on our own?" As she released a soft cry, the others watched as tears fell from the inventor's eyes. They looked at one another's slightly battered bodies and turned their heads away in shame.

"It's not like we have a choice." Marlene said softly. "If we don't do something, they are going to take over."

"They already took over the North, West, and some parts of the South. We might as well just give them the East." Not helping, Remii sat on the balls of her feet and sighed. "You saw the two that they sent out, didn't you?" She whispered with her eyes slightly closed. "You saw how horrible those two creatures were. They moved like bullets and fought with no care for life."

"And they weren't even the tough ones." The oldest woman chuckled pathetically. "Even the Great Bandit Killer, Lina Inverse and her team of hunters were barely able to kill them. And if we can't go up against Lina Inverse, we will definitely be murdered if we fight against one of them." Laia let out a loud sob, her face buried into the palms of her hands.

"Laia…" Marlene looked sympathetically at her best friend and touched her shoulder. "It'll be okay-"

"I-I want to go home!" She sobbed loudly, making everyone wince at her words. "I want to go home and have everything back to the way it used to be!" As Laia cried, Mimi was the first to see Lina and her team running down the road.

"It's them!" She shouted to the rest of her team. "They're coming straight at us!"

"We need to move, now!" Grabbing Laia's hand, Marlene led the others out of the dark alley and sprinted toward the entrance of town.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" Lina screamed the moment she saw them. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO ESCAPE THAT EASILY!" Remii scowled to spot the infamous redhead closing in on them and called for her leader.

"They're gaining!"

"Don't worry!" Marlene stared at the opened front gates of Saillune. "Once we get out of this town and into its surrounding woods, we can lose them!" Just as they were so close to running out of town, Filia rushed in the middle of the road with a large pack strapped on her back. Holding a rubber hose in her hands, she flipped a switch on the side of the pack and held her position as the fuel cans against her back began to bubble and run through the rubber hose.

When Lina spotted the weapon, she jumped out of the road with her team. Filia pulled the trigger and unleashed a ray of fire across the street. The Alliance screamed the instant the fire attached to their bodies, stopping them from running; they rolled on the dirt as they tried to stop the flames. Once the fire stopped, Marlene struggled to get off the ground only to have someone place a foot against her shoulder and push her down again.

"I think we're done here." Lina smiled. The leader glared at the Bandit Killer, she shoved Lina's foot off and snarled at her.

"TRAITOR!" Marlene screamed. "THE BANDIT KILLER IS A TRAITOR!"

"Traitor?" Her eyebrow curled. Lina angrily stared at the girl on the ground. "I'm not the one hired to kill a public official." She bent her body forward and grabbed Marlene by her shirt, lifting her slightly off the dirt. "If you ask me, I think that you're the traitor. I bet you even killed Milgazia."

"H-How dare you?" Remii growled next to Marlene, she looked up at Lina, not caring that Gourry's blade was set against her neck. "Milgazia-Sama is our teacher! He was the only one who believed in our talents!"

"He believed in us and we… we failed him!" Mimi cried, her hair was slightly singed off from the fire. As she buried her sad expression against her sister's shoulder, Marlene glanced at her team's sorrowful faces.

"The Alliance of the East," Zelgadiss flicked the last of the Gollum robots off his shoulder. He snorted loudly and crossed his arms. "I thought they were going to be a challenge." Finally lowering her eyes, Marlene let out a shaking breath and brought her hands to her lap. Unhanding Marlene's shirt, Lina took a step back and put her weapon into her holster. When none of them said anything, Lina motioned her team to put their weapons away.

"Look, we're unarmed. Talk, before I quit being nice." Looking back at her teammates, Marlene sighed hopelessly and opened her mouth.

"We're trying to prevent a takeover." She kept quiet as her teammates began to shout at her.

"What are you DOING, Marlene?" Nene squealed.

"The Bandit Killer is a traitor!" The oldest woman in the group pointed at Lina. "She's working for one of them!"

"One of them?" Lina lifted her eyebrow. One of who?

"Don't you remember what Milgazia said?" Marlene whispered. The rest of her team closed their mouths and turned their heads to the ground.

"If there is one person who can stop the wrath of terror in this world," She gulped and looked at Lina. "That one person would be Lina Inverse."

"He also said that if there is one person who can create an endless pool of death, that person would be Lina Inverse as well." Remii snorted behind her.

"What can I say?" The proud redhead shrugged her shoulders with a smirk. "It's a gift and a curse." Marlene jumped slightly back when Gourry knelt beside her, a kind smile appeared on his face.

"We're not traitors. We're the good guys." He told her. "We're just protecting Phil."

"Philionel El Di Saillune is NOT a good guy!" Mimi squeaked.

"My Daddy is the most good of all good guys in the world!" The twin screamed in fear as Amelia snapped at her with her fists ready to pummel her face in. Luckily enough, Zelgadiss grabbed a hold of her before she can do anything.

"Amelia is right. Philionel doesn't have a bad bone in his body." Filia crossed her arms. "You must have the wrong guy-"

"No, we have the right target. The two robot assassins were enough verification." Grabbing the handheld folded fan from her belt, Gioconda began to fan herself like a duchess would do. So, Lina pouted slightly, these girls knew about Kanzel and Mazenda. Then, that means that they must be here for the same reason.

"Does this have something to do with the Lithium mines?" Lina suddenly asked. All the team members of the so-called Alliance lifted their heads instantly. From the expressions shown on their faces, Lina smiled, she guessed right. "You are wasting your time. Phil has no knowledge of its location."

"But…" Marlene glanced around her teammates. "But Milgazia-"

"Milgazia was a paranoid and twisted man." Carefully dumping her flamethrower on the ground, Filia sighed and placed her hands to her hips. "As his previous partner, I won't be surprised if he made some of it up-"

"No, he wouldn't do that!" Laia shouted next to her. "Milgazia told us that Philionel El Di Saillune would know the location of the Lithium mines! He told us that Philionel El Di Saillune will lead us there and-and we can avenge our family and friends' death! He told us that we can stop the takeover!" With rolls of tears falling from her eyes, Laia released a loud sob and shook her head.

"M-My Daddy… a-and my b-big brother… they all died." Lowering her head, she buried her face into her hands. "They were murdered… by those… those horrible..." Lina glanced between Laia and Marlene's faces. They didn't seem like bad girls. Rather, they look like troubled teenagers that have nowhere else to turn too. And what did they mean by 'avenge our family and friends' death'? And takeover? What takeover?

"Laia, its okay-"

"SHUT UP, MARLENE!" Laia screamed at her best friend. "Don't you GET it? It's not going to be OKAY!"

"Laia…" Marlene watched as her pink-haired comrade cry next to her.

"They were ALL murdered… By those ROBOTS." The bounty hunters gasped and glanced at one another. Robots have gone after them too. Then, that means that these girls weren't working with the robots. Lina's eyes suddenly widen. Takeover. These girls were here to stop a takeover. When they mean a takeover, could they possibly mean-

"And you are WORKING for one of them!" Breaking Lina's concentration, Laia stood up from the dirt and pointed at her.

"What the hell are you talking about, kid?" Lina snorted loudly. "Lina Inverse works for nobody, except for HERSELF."

"True." Her comrades simultaneously agreed beside her.

"DON'T DENY IT! YOU ARE ALL WORKING FOR THAT ROBOT!" Robot? The redhead looked at her friends and they just shrugged their shoulders.

"Filia is a robot?" Gourry pointed to his boss whom just slapped his finger away.

"Sorry, kid, we don't know any robots."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Out of nowhere, Laia pulled a revolver out and aimed it between Lina's eyes. Calm, Lina just raised her eyebrow and looked at the shaking gun that the young lady held in her trembling hands.

"LAIA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Gioconda and Remii rushed to her but stopped the instant Marlene drew her extended arm out; she stepped behind her best friend and placed a hand on Laia's shaking shoulder.

"Laia. Put the gun DOWN."

"She's a traitor, Marlene. She's working for that robot. You SAW it, didn't you? You SAW it talking to her." Pulling back the hammer to her revolver, Laia released a shaking cry. "The same robot that killed my daddy…"

"Laia, please, CALM DOWN." Marlene looked at the gun that she was holding. "Please, you're going to get yourself killed-"

"I'M ALREADY DEAD." A cold statement whispered from Laia's lips made her best friend flinch. "Get out of here, Marlene." Laia hissed softly.

"W-What?"

"I said, get out of here." The pink-haired young lady ordered. Opening her mouth to protest, Marlene gasped when Laia turned her head to her, allowing her to see the emptiness in her eyes. "GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOU GET KILLED!"

"Marlene, let's go." Gioconda grabbed Marlene's tiny shoulder and pulled her slightly back. As she shook her head and tried to stay by her best friend's side, Marlene was dragged away and out of town with the remaining of her team. A smirk appeared on Lina's face.

"You know, as long as they keep running, the longer and more determined we'll be to catch them." Looking at Lina and her team, Laia lowered the revolver slightly and slipped a hopeless smile.

"You won't be able to catch them because they are already dead." Just when she said that, a loud chain of bullets were blasted from deep in the woods surrounding Saillune, a spray of horrible cries echoed to their ears that sounded like the remaining Alliance.

"Zel, Amelia. Check that out." Lina quickly ordered.

"I'm going too." Filia followed the two with her HMG strapped on her back. With Lina and Gourry's heads turned away, Laia took this opportunity to turn her revolver and shoved it into her mouth. Lina looked back when she heard the pull of the hammer.

"WAIT-" But Laia had pulled the trigger and had blasted a hole through her head.

* * *

They walked into a bloody mess. All the fleeing members of the Alliance were lying on the dirt, covered in bullet holes and releasing large amount of blood everywhere. For Filia and Zelgadiss, they were already used to the sight of bodies being disposed in front of them but Amelia; she released a sharp gasp and turned away immediately.

"If you want to be a huntress, Amelia, you won't look away." Zelgadiss whispered coldly. Grasping the thumping object below her chest, Amelia slowly turned back around and opened her eyes. She stared at the horrible faces of fear on each of the girl's faces. Her bottom lip began to tremble when she saw the dead twins. They were holding each other with their faces next to each other. Their last sisterly act.

"Just breathe." Filia knelt next to her when Amelia dropped to her knees. Burying her wet eyes against the palm of her hands, she remained silent as sorrowful tears spread down her cheeks. Zelgadiss took a few steps around the bloodbath. Judging from their fearful expressions and the way their bodies were configured, they saw something that spooked them and while they were trying to get away, it killed them. He looked over the body of the rapier user; she had more bullet holes then the rest of them. She was in the midst of taking out her swords when the bullets entered her. Zelgadiss picked up the large black bullet that was shot from the murder weapon. It was too big and long for a revolver. No, it was too small for a HMG. This was custom made. Whatever the weapon was, Zelgadiss could tell that it shot at rapid secessions like a HMG but it was more accurate and like a revolver. He looked up when he heard Amelia releasing a terrible cry. His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

"Filia," Zelgadiss walked over. "Check the perimeters for any evidence of the murder weapon." As Filia reluctantly left the sobbing Amelia, Zelgadiss made sure she was at least a few feet away from the scene before taking the crying girl in his arms. He rarely gave hugs but when he does, it was only for Amelia and only when she cried. He undid the black bandanna that he kept around his neck to cover a large burn and gently wiped her tears. Unable to say a word, Amelia hiccupped a few times and looked at him with big watery eyes filled with loss and sorrow. Her eyes asked him a repeated question that even he knew he couldn't answer so he tried the best he can.

"Not always." He told her. Amelia's lower lip trembled. She just nodded and released more tears which he wiped away. Filia smiled from behind the thick bushes, she watched as Zelgadiss affectionately dried Amelia's face and giggled to herself. Like the private man that he was, Zelgadiss always had trouble showing his feelings in public, especially to the woman who he loved.

"I better get my bridesmaid dress ready." Filia sighed to herself.

"Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Filia-San?" A cheery voice chuckled behind her. Turning instantly around with her heavy machine gun ready at her hip, she breathed in relief when she saw the purple-haired policeman standing in her way.

"You scared me, Namagomi." She muttered softly and suddenly, her eyes widen. Holding his trembling body upright with the use of his cane, Xellos chuckled weakly while blood leaked from the side of his stomach and chest.

"I apologize for scaring you." Taking a step forward, Filia yelped when his body gave up on him, he fell forward just as his black cane slipped out of his hand. Catching him in mid-air, Filia pulled him back to his feet only to have him lean his body against her side. Still chuckling to himself, he kept his head hung low as she carefully placed him on the ground. "But it was you who scared me with that hunk of metal."

"What happened to you?" Filia looked over his bullet wounds and tried to stop the flow of blood.

"Just had a run in with a fellow who had a very nasty temper." Xellos calmly spoke. Filia's eyes slightly widen when a drip of blood leaked from the edge of his lips. He noticed her wide-eyed stare and smirk.

"Why, Filia-San, are you possibly worried about this police officer?" When she didn't answer, Xellos's smirk only grew wider. "You must have a really hard time expressing your feelings, don't you?"

"As long as you keep being your bigheaded and arrogant self, I will have no trouble expressing my feelings towards you." She said with her turned-up nostrils in the air. Sighing, Xellos turned his head to the side and puckered his lips out.

"You are so not cute." Fortunately for him, Filia did not hear his last statement for she was calling Zel and Amelia over. As Zelgadiss and Filia helped the wounded man up, Xellos raised an eyebrow when they showed him the mutilated corpses. He kept silent as they carried him around the dead bodies. Just when they were setting the injured investigator against a tree, Lina and Gourry stepped out of the forest and spent only a few seconds to look over the damage. The redheaded huntress turned her head to Xellos, her eyebrows curled slightly.

"The information you gave us was wrong."

"The information I received was wrong." He corrected with a soft laugh. "Never trust a dying man's words-"

"This is no laughing matter, Xellos." Lina snapped. "Six innocent women are dead and I want to know why." She rushed to him and grabbed his collar, pulling him slightly off the tree trunk. Making him look straight at her, Lina glared at him furiously. "And the only lead that I have left is you. So you better tell me all you know, right now."

"Or what?" Xellos continued to smile.

"Or I'll make sure that you don't get back to Kataart in one piece." She threatened with her ruby eyes blazing. As much as Lina gave off her most fearful glare, the purple-haired man didn't move a muscle. He kept smiling and his eyes remained closed. Finally, he moved his hand into his jacket pocket and took out a dirty parchment.

"I never lied to you." He said softly. Lina glanced at the parchment and back at him. Setting him back on the tree, she swiped the letter from his hand and unrolled it. "I am under orders to stop the Alliance. I just didn't collect the correct information, is all." As Lina looked upon the parchment in her hand, the rest of her comrades looked over her shoulders. It was a wanted poster of a man covered in white bandages and wearing a black hooded cloak.

"Who the hell is this?" Zelgadiss asked rudely.

"His name is Seigram." Xellos smiled at Amelia as she tended to his wounds. "He is the other part of the reason why I am here."

"What does this wanted man have to do with Saillune?"

"He didn't have anything to do with Saillune at first but after seeing this bloody mess," He turned to look at the fallen bodies. "I believe this is the work of Seigram."

"You mean, he did this?" Gourry's eyes widen.

"There is no doubt about it."

"How do you know for sure?" Filia questioned, she crossed her arms over her chest. "You were wrong about the Alliance of the East so you could be wrong about this one."

"I'm hardly ever incorrect, except for the earlier mentioned." Xellos moved his eyes to the group of hunters in front of him. "But I'm afraid I'm correct in this one."

"How do you know?" Filia asked again.

"Well, for one, Seigram is a heavy machinist like you, Filia-San. Second, I am quite familiar with his work and this looks identical to it. And third," He sighed slightly. "Well, third, Seigram is a robot and he's looking for the Lithium mines as we speak."

"If you knew there was another fucking robot in our midst, why were you so fucking adamant in getting rid of the fucking Alliance of the fucking East?" Lina snarled, the wanted poster rolled tightly up in her hands.

"I thought you folks wanted to stop the group of dangerous women from killing off your precious Mayor-"

"YOU COULD'VE TOLD US ABOUT THE FUCKING ROBOT, YOU JERK!"

"It must've slipped my mind." A goofy smile spread across his face.

"LET'S HOPE THIS SLIPS YOUR MIND!" Lina began to repeatedly pound her fist into his head. After getting her off the bleeding and now bruised police officer, the redhead rubbed her throbbing temples and released a soft sigh of annoyance.

"Will this criminal go after my Daddy like the others?" Amelia asked worriedly.

"Knowing how tightly guarded the Mayor of Saillune is, Seigram won't risk showing his face." Xellos accepted his black cane from Gourry. "The other man, I'm not sure."

"What other man?"

"The other man who knows the location of the Lithium mines." While Xellos carefully got up on his feet with Amelia and Gourry's help, Lina looked down at the wanted poster of Seigram and nibbled her lower lip. Seigram, how much weaker is he from Kanzel? Or perhaps the question she should really be asking is, how much stronger is this bastard?


	11. Chapter 11 Sand Paradise

Chapter 11 - Sand Paradise

A loud shriek echoed the pottery and mace shop. The teenager sitting behind the front counter looked up instantly when he heard his mother screaming from the other end of their home.

"I SAID, HOLD STILL!" Filia screamed at the man twisting and pulling away from her hands.

"But you're so rough!" Xellos whined.

"I'll show you ROUGH." Grabbing the end of his bandages, Filia yanked at the white wrappings, squeezing all the air from his chest. As he tried to breathe, Xellos let out a dry cough while Filia continued to tend to his bleeding wounds.

"What now?" Gourry turned his head to Lina. They stood near the doorway of the room, watching Xellos carefully. "Are we going to believe Xellos?"

"If we don't and that Seigram guy does go after Taforashia, he's going to come to Saillune eventually and we're going to have to face him sooner or later." Lina crossed her arms. "We should at least provide our services and warn Taforashia-"

"Have you forgotten that it was his fault that there are six innocent females in the morgue, Lina?" Lina turned her head to the silver-haired man leaning against one wall of the bedroom, Zelgadiss scoffed at Xellos's cheerful expression. "Should we really trust a police officer who lies?"

"I never lied." The injured man said aloud from the bed. "I simply didn't tell the entire story."

"That's lying in my book." Zelgadiss snarled. The expression on his face changed when Amelia touched his elbow gently, calming his hot temper. Sighing aloud, Lina took a few steps into the middle of the room and turned her body towards Zelgadiss and Amelia.

"Do you remember what that one girl said? About a takeover?" Thinking for a second, the two nodded slowly. "Didn't she say that they came to Saillune to get Phil to lead them to the Lithium mines so they can stop a takeover? Now, why would they look for Lithium mines to stop a takeover?"

"Well… Kanzel and Mazenda were searching for Lithium mines to survive-"

"But those girls were humans, not robots. They don't need Lithium." Zelgadiss quickly said.

"Unless, they were trying to get rid of it." Lina said with a wagging finger. "Get rid of it to prevent a takeover."

"What are you getting at, Lina?" Filia asked. With everyone's attention on her, Lina looked around the room.

"I think we're in something bigger than just a regular hunt." Stopping her eyes on Xellos, Lina pouted slightly.

"I think Kanzel and Mazenda were here for a bigger reason than to find Lithium. I think they were here to collect the whereabouts of the Lithium mines and start the process of shipping it out to the west where there are more of them there. Finally, I think those girls, the Alliance of the East, came to Saillune to get rid of the Lithium to stop the robots from getting their power back. Basically, to stop the robots from taking over the human race." The room was eerily quiet. As Lina's ruby eyes lingered on Xellos's face, she discovered that he gave off no notion of shock or emotion like the others. He just kept that annoying smile and said nothing. There was something weird about this guy, Lina believed and with that, she looked away from him.

"But, of course, that's just a theory." She giggled cheerfully to her friends. "I could be wrong."

"Nonetheless, all possibilities are eminent." The pessimistic burn victim snorted loudly. Glancing at everyone's faces, Gourry scratched the end of his chin.

"So… should we go to the other guy then?" When they looked at him, Gourry shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, the bad guy is going to him because he knows something, right? So, shouldn't we go to him before the bad guy does? That way, we will be ahead of the uh… the rope?"

"The game, Gourry-San." Amelia corrected.

"Yeah, the game." He nodded quickly. Smiling, Lina shook her head with a heavy sigh.

"When you are right, Gourry," She chuckled softly. "You are right. And since you're right, you and I are going to go to Taforashia and warn him what's coming to him."

"So, we're back to that plan, then?" Zelgadiss sighed. "I'll go to Halshifom's mansion and find any leads."

"And I'll recheck the information on the excavation sites with Phil." Finished with Xellos's wounds, Filia pushed his reluctant body into the bed and covered him with a blanket.

"Exactly." Lina nodded and looked at Xellos. "And you, my fellow officer, can help our youngest team player with her interrogation skills." Grabbing Amelia by the shoulders, she moved her lips to the back of Amelia's ear. "He's hiding something. Get as much information out of him as you can."

"But Lina-San, I was going to help Zelgadiss-San-"

"Not in your life." The ex-mercenary muttered as he was leaving the room. Slipping on the biggest and most frustrated pout in her life, Amelia crossed her thin arms across her chest and began to grumble beneath her breath as Lina pushed her into a chair next to Xellos's bed. One by one, the room was finally left with just Amelia and Xellos. The officer watched the obviously upset young lady let out a few obscene words, she unfolded her arms and her hands tightened into a fist.

"I am NOT a little girl, anymore. I am 19 years old and I can contribute to the investigation too." She said loudly and sent her right fist into the little wooden drawer standing next Xellos's bed. Breaking it into pieces, Xellos scratched the side of his cheek and chuckled nervous like. And he thought Filia-San was rough.

* * *

After getting the directions to Taforashia's location from Phil, Lina and Gourry were soon riding their horses out of the lively town of Saillune and into the Desert of Destruction just south of the town. An appropriate name for such a place, the Desert of Destruction was a vast desert that host a terrible group of savages that survived by killing and pillaging nearby towns. Savages meaning the first group of people that lived there before people from the west arrived with their advanced technology. Lina avoided going into the Desert of Destruction altogether however it was here that Taforashia had made his settlement so she had no choice but to enter. With the sun beaming against their bodies from above, Gourry fanned himself with his large cowboy hat and kept his trench coat off, showing off his tight blue buttoned-up shirt which he rolled his long sleeves to his elbows. Looking up at the shining star, he placed his hat back on and unbuttoned the top half of his shirt, allowing the breeze to hit against his hard biceps.

"It's hot." He said loudly. Next to him, Lina was in a worse position. Wearing specially made leather black pants, the red head kept adjusting on the saddle.

"The desert is ALWAYS hot." Lina snarled as she pulled off her black vest and shoved it into one of the packs that flung on the side of her horse. Leading their horses to their first stop in the desert next to an oasis, Lina hopped off her animal and unrolled the large map that they were following. After a tenacious ride through large mounds of hot sand and fake images of oasis, Taforashia found an immeasurable oasis in the middle of the desert. Filled with luminous vegetation of exotic fruits, strange mammals, and a towering waterfall in the center of the sanctuary, it was there where Taforashia created his own settlement and brought the existing families of the lost miners and scientists of the factory explosion in Saillune over.

"Conceited of him to name the town after himself, don't you think?" Lina muttered from behind the map.

"I'm going to take a dip in the water." Her partner began to take off his sweaty shirt and boots.

"Fill my canteen before you put your sweat-covered body in the drinking hole, Gourry." She tossed her empty canteen to him and return to the map. As Gourry dipped the metal jug with cool water, Lina sat under the lonely coconut tree nearby the pool, the map placed on her lap. She looked up instantly from the etchings of the worn-out map when she heard a loud splash of water.

Standing in waist-deep of drinking water in just his long pants, Gourry dipped his hands into the clear water and splashed it against his hot face. And with that, the funny feeling in the bottom of Lina's stomach began to itch at her. It was the same feeling she got when she looked into Xellos's eyes in the barrel. Lina watched with clouded eyes as Gourry's golden locks stuck against his face while he sighed in relief. With a twist of his neck, his hair separated from his skin and a warm flush of red developed on Lina's face when she saw him licking his upper lip gently. Gourry raised his eyebrow when Lina let out a loud shriek, he looked over and watched her with confusion as she grabbed her hot face and yanked her cheeks out.

"You're WORKING. Stop thinking about stuff! You are NOT Amelia!" Lina scolded herself. She jumped when Gourry called her name suddenly.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Just, um… I'm just having trouble reading the map." She laughed nervously and grabbed the map on her lap again.

"I can help." The long-haired god stepped out of the watering hole and sat next to her; he looked over her tiny shoulder and kept his face near hers. Unable to stop her eyes from moving around the map, Lina finally looked at him and watched as he tried to comprehend what was in front of him.

"Hmmm. That looks like a dragon." He pointed to the map that has an outline of a mythical creature. "Doesn't it?" Gourry lifted his eyes to her face. They stared at each other for some time, their eyes connected and mouths just a few inches away. Noticing the familiar glow on her face, Gourry lowered her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes. He gave off a handsome smile that got Lina to hold her breath. He always had that effect on her. Gourry raised his hand and placed it gently against the side of her face, tilting her head fully towards her and gently grazing his thumb on her bottom lip.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" He whispered so softly. She gulped loudly and nodded, her knees buckled against each other. Tipping their heads together, their lips were finally about to touch until suddenly, loud splashing sounds came from the watering hole. Because of the overpowering sun, the horses had entered the cool pool to wash their hot hides. It was then, Lina realize just how close they were to do something and with no intention of stopping, her eyes slightly widen when Gourry kept caressing her cheek and called her name softly. Although he wanted to continue forward, she moved her head just when they were a hairline away.

"We, um… We should get going." She told him with her brows curled troubled-like. Gourry stared at the serious expression on her face and lowered his hand from her face, his usual handsome smile slipped on.

"I'll get the horses." Lina watched from behind her map as Gourry walked away from her. Damn dumb animals, always ruining her fun. Well, Lina kept her eyes on Gourry's half nude body. The horses did make her realize what was going to happen but they didn't initially stop her, it was her own decision. Oh, what the hell is she doing? Why was she being so adamant in separating her work from her personal life with Gourry? Just like the time she told Xellos that she and Gourry weren't anything. That was untrue. They were something. But why did she say that? Again, was her mind telling her that she was in love and her heart saying something else? Shaking her head, Lina stood up from the sand and folded the map close. She's thinking too much about something irrelevant. Her entire thought process should be on getting to Taforashia, not about her relationship with dumb Gourry.

* * *

After 2 hours of constant complaining about the sun, Lina kicked the sides of her large animal the instant she spotted the enormous oasis over the mound of sand. Sprinting in the moving sand, the bounty hunters finally arrived at the wonderful paradise in the center of the Desert of Destruction. They jumped off their horses and gathered their weapons. Letting the horses roam around the green land, Lina and Gourry looked over the map.

"Okay…" The redhead stroke the end of her chin. "The settlement should be next to the waterfall. But, how do we get there?" As Lina tried to relocate their whereabouts, she didn't notice Gourry staring at her. He's been watching her closely since they left Saillune that morning. Was it him, or did something seem different about Lina? Well, Lina was always distant when it came to their bond, he was used to it, but she seemed more… unreachable. Maybe it had something to do with that new guy, Xellos? After that guy arrived, Lina hasn't been able to sit still or look him in his eyes. Gourry lowered his eyes just when Lina looked up at him; he pretended to be looking at the map.

"We'll get to the center of the oasis eventually." She said loudly as she folded the map. "Let's just start walking straight."

"Walking straight?" Turning his head to the deep mass of forest greenery in front of him, he sighed to see nothing but thick and overgrown forest everywhere and squirmed to spot large dung standing upright next to a big bush of wild and poisonous flowers, large dung that came out of a large animal.

"Um, is going straight the safest route, Lina?" He kept still while Lina walked forward to the thick forest entrance, the Lithium dagger in her hand.

"Didn't anyone tell you, Gourry?" The dagger sliced through the overgrown branches like butter, creating a way for her. Taking one step into the jungle, Lina looked back at him and grinned. "Going straight is the best and safest route yet."

* * *

"OKAY." The redhead snarled loudly. Lifting her body off Gourry, she grabbed a hanging branch from the edge of the large hole and pulled her body out. "Going straight WASN'T the best and safest route." Lina snorted as she patted the dirt off her leather pants and helped Gourry escape the deep trend. They have fallen into every trap that the route was equipped with. Looking down at the straight pathway that they had taken, Lina pouted the biggest pout. The first hole was covered with dried leaves and the second had a piece of weak wood carefully placed so when enough weight got to the middle, it would collapse in. The third and forth holes had camouflage tarps made out of tough animal hide while the fifth and biggest hole they encountered was just placed perfectly behind a large log so the two hunters would step right in to it.

"Someone OBVIOUSLY created these stupid holes in the ground to keep us out." Lina announced loudly that anybody in a 2-mile radius can hear her powerful voice. "WELL, IT'S NOT WORKING!" With her arms raised above her head, she released her usual threat. "YOU BETTER HOPE I DON'T FIND YOU OR ONE OF THESE STUPID HOLES WILL BE YOUR GRAVE!"

"Hey, Lina?"

"What?" Rudely answering him, she twisted her head back only to pause abruptly. Standing completely around them and only just a few feet away were dark-skinned natives wearing thick animal skin for clothes. In their hands were roughly sharpened daggers made from rocks, some of them had arrows ready to shoot and spears aimed at their heads.

"Um," Gourry looked to Lina. "I don't think they can all fit in one hole."

"Of course not, you big idiot." The huntress snorted. The two trespassers pressed their backs against each other with their weapons already drawn in their hands, they watched as the locals stepped closer to them. When one of them noticed the drawn revolver in Lina's hands, he motioned to the others and they all came to a halt. Wearing a breechcloth and leggings made of out leather, his sleeveless leather war shirt was decorated with colorful beads and dyed feathers, he walked around the two hunters carefully and always keeping a safe distance. Lina pulled back the hammer to her gun when he stopped in front of her. A young man with long magenta hair in a Mohawk, he had a large gold hoop earring on his left ear and a black native tattoo of the sun on his right upper bicep.

"What brings trespassers to our land?" He couldn't be much older than Val. "Speak now, trespassers, or I'll have to force it out of you."

"If I remember correctly, savages weren't supposed to own any land." Lina whispered coldly, she smirked when the teen winced at her comment.

"Because of your kind, we were driven out from our homes in the green land and to the ocean of sand. This is our land now." Looking over Lina and Gourry's stature, the native stopped to inspect the modified weapon in Lina's hands. He stared at it for a while before looking back at the redhead. "What brings the infamous Bandit Killer and her Idiot Stooge?"

"Aren't you the smart one?" She chuckled slightly. "How did you guess right? Let me guess, it was my beauty, wasn't it?"

"Your weapon, it's unlike any revolver I seen before." The teen snorted. "I heard stories about your wicked firearm. It supposedly brings death to everyone who encounters it. I can see why."

"It's a gift-"

"And your incredibly short figure." He pointed out suddenly. "You are incredibly short for someone who is as old as you are." Taking a huge step away from Lina, Gourry tried to wave the teen's attention when a black cloud began to develop around Lina's petite body. "Combine with your loud and annoying voice, I put the three together and figured out who you were."

"S-S-Short?" Lifting her murderous eyes at the young man, he jumped to see a deathly shine in her eyes. "MOVE OR I CAN'T PROMISE THAT I WON'T OBLITERATE THIS ENTIRE FUCKING OASIS."

"But, Lina, we need to talk to Taforashia." Gourry tried to calm his partner down. "If you destroy this place, we came here for nothing."

"IT WOULDN'T BE NOTHING IF I KILL THIS FUCKING KID-" Suddenly, the teen grabbed his Tomahawk that was strapped behind his back and brought it to Lina's view. She stopped talking the moment she saw the sharp blade on the weapon. It was wickedly sharp and it was black just like her black dagger.

"What business do you have with Taforashia?" The native shoved his deadly close range weapon in the air, pointing at Lina's face. "Speak." Glancing at the black tomahawk, Lina looked at the weapons that the surrounding natives were carrying. Their weapons also had black sharp shards but the boy in front of her had the biggest shard of used Lithium she ever saw. The blade on that tomahawk was as big as her face and she bet that it could easily cut through anything.

"I SAID, SPEAK OR I WILL KILL YOU-" Out of nowhere a loud gunshot was shot and a rapid bullet past Lina's face. Amazingly, the boy jumped to the side, dodging the fast bullet and he flung himself at Lina, the black tomahawk high above his head. Lina watched with wide eyes as the weapon was pulled down and made its way between her eyes in slow motion, there was no way she can stop or dodge this incoming attack. Just in that last second, when the black blade was only a hairline from touching her skin, it stopped instantly. Still holding her breath, her body was unable to move as she stared at the frozen tomahawk just millimeters from her face. Why did it stop? She moved her eyes to her hero.

"You can kill someone with this, you know?" Smiling with his hand securely wrapped around the wooden handle of the tomahawk and over the teen's hands, Xellos straighten his posture and pushed the dangerous weapon easily away from Lina's face, shoving the teen back. In his hand, he had a quad-barrel, double action, revolver made out of platinum. It was smoking from the end of the barrel. It was quite large and heavy but from the impact it gave, it was worth it for the power. "But again, so can guns."

"Who are you? And how were you able to do that?" The young man snarled.

"I think the question here is," The purple-haired officer surveyed the area and smiled. "What happened to your cavalry?" Gasping, the native turned his head around him. His comrades were all on the ground, groaning in pain and their weapons broken in half.

"What… What did you do to them?" He glared at Xellos.

"You're blaming the wrong person." Xellos pointed to Gourry who was in the middle of breaking the last of the wooden bow. In just that few seconds he had his sights off him, the infamous Gourry Gabriev was able to unarm a dozen of dangerous savages and beat them into the ground. The lone native savage glared at the long-haired muscular man, and he did this all without his sword. Lina finally broke out of the daze she had on Xellos's face and released a loud snarl.

"XELLOS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Lina grabbed his suit collar and shook him. "DID YOU FOLLOW US, YOU STALKER? DAMMIT, THIS IS NOT-"

"Shouldn't you be just a little bit more appreciative to the man who just saved your life?" He suddenly asked loudly, in which made Lina freeze. She stared at the smirking man and unhanded his collar with a scoff.

"Gourry and I had it under control."

"I believe you." Xellos chuckled softly and fixed his suit. Looking back at the lonely teen with no weapon, he yelped when Lina grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him to her face.

"NOW, YOU TELL ME WHY YOU'RE ATTACKING ME AND WHY YOU'RE STOPPING ME FROM GETTING TO TAFORASHIA!"

"Y-YOU'RE TRESPASSERS TO OUR LAND! YOU DESERVE TO BE ATTACKED!" He shoved himself out of her hands. "YOU CRAZY MONSTER!"

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT, YOU PUNY SAVAGE!" Lina smirked when the lightly shorter teen glared at her, he tighten his hands into fist and snarled at her. She must have struck a nerve.

"I-I DIDN'T WIND UP LIKE THIS BECAUSE I WANTED TOO!" He took a daring step at her. "BESIDES YOU'RE NOT THAT BIG YOURSELF! HEIGHT-WISE AND CHEST-WISE!"

"C-Come again?" Her eyes slightly widen at his comment.

"Rather than big or small, they're more like… scrawny?"

"S-S-Scrawny?" Lina winced.

"That or flat." The over-confident teen stuck his tongue out.

"F-F-F-F-F-FLA…?" Placing her hand over her 'scrawny' chest, the dark cloud grew darker every second. "Y-You… You shouldn't have said that…"

"HA!" The kid bounced in front of her. "I called you flat, because you are flat! You're the flattest thing on this flat Land, here to spread the flatness everywhere! You Flat Monster!"

"F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-FLATTEST THING?" Lina lifted her head at the teasing teen; a twisted and lunatic expression appeared on her face as she reached to the large barrel revolver strapped to her calf. "If you're going to go that far, then I'm not going to play nice either!"

"Lina!" Gourry yelped when she began to load the single-barrel revolver and took aim at the boy's head. Fortunately for him, Gourry grabbed Lina the second she wrapped her finger around the trigger and shoved her to the opposite direction. "Not here!"

"LET ME GO! HE DESERVES TO DIE!" The redhead snarled deathly with the Dragon Slave ready to be released in her hand. The native teenager released a tense shiver. He just saw his life past before his eyes.

"Gourry-San has a good hold on Lina-San for now but I don't think he can hold her off for long." Xellos was suddenly beside the young man. The teen looked up at the police officer and at the end of the long barrel that was pointed between his eyes.

"Would you like to cooperate now or would I have to change your mind?" When he didn't answer, Xellos smiled at him.

"Believe me," His eyes slightly opened, revealing amethyst orbs. "Lina-San is the least of your worries." Staring into his emotionless eyes and the empty smile on his face, the tan-skinned teenager gulped.

* * *

Refusing to cooperate with the three trespassers, the group of natives were bounded by their wrists with ropes and tossed into the deep holes that were ironically made to keep trespassers out. After much deliberation, the young man with the magenta long hair was the only native that the three decided to bring along with them. He was obviously the leader of the group. Holding one end of the rope while the other was wrapped tightly around his thin wrists and waist, Gourry dragged their prisoner as Lina and Xellos walked alongside of him.

"My name is Pokota." He answered rudely. "Now, can you please take these off me?" And motioned to the ropes tied around his wrists.

"Not until you lead us to town." Lina smiled innocently.

"I'm not going to betray my kind by leading a bunch of sociopathic killers!" The native snarled and return to biting the thick ropes with his teeth.

"Puny Savage." Lina rolled her eyes and looked at the second tomahawk that was strapped against his belt on his back.

"W-What are you doing?" He yelped with a slight blush when he felt Lina fiddling around the top of his buttocks. The moment he saw his weapon in her hands, Pokota raised a fit. "HEY, THAT'S MINE! GIVE IT BACK, YOU FLAT CHEST MONSTER!"

"SHUT UP BEFORE I KILL YOU!" Lina pounded her tight fist into his jaw, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. Regaining her calm composure, the redhead looked carefully at the blade of the tomahawk. It was definitely used Lithium. Running her thumb against the side of the black blade, she noticed that this weapon was sharper and weighed practically nothing like her daggers.

"Gourry." She turned her head to Gourry. "Target practice."

"Right now?" He scratched the end of his chin gently.

"Yes, right now." Lina wrapped her fingers tightly around the wooden handle of Pokota's weapon and aimed it at the small piece of leaf that Gourry had picked up from the ground. Watching it wave with the flowing wind, she pulled her arm back and nicely threw the weapon to the slightly moving leaf. Slicing the already thin leaf into two pieces and not cutting Gourry's fingers, it continued to fly through the air until it struck a tree that was just a few feet away.

"W-Whoa." Awake from the early bashing in the head, Pokota lifted himself off the ground and looked at Lina with astonishment. The tomahawk weapon is hand-to-hand combat weapon, never used as a throwing weapon. He gasped when Lina took notice of him and instantly looked away; he didn't want to show her that he was amazed at her skill. But she had already seen him. Lina smirked, her hands placed on her hips. She walked to the tomahawk and easily took it off the bark of the tree.

"I didn't expect any different from a Lithium-based weapon." She blurted out as she continued to inspect the black bladed weapon. Pokota looked at Lina instantly and barked.

"How do you know about Lithium?"

"How do YOU know about Lithium?" She asked instead. With all eyes on him, Pokota opened his mouth but said nothing. So, he was a quiet puny savage, Lina chuckled and reached to her pouch that carried all her daggers.

"Here." Tossing the black dagger that she had obtained from Mazenda, it landed in front of Pokota's tied wrists. He stared at the black blade with slight shock.

"Where did you get this?"

"It's a trophy for killing a robot." Lina told him. "Where did you get yours?"

"I…" He paused and lowered his head away. "I found it." Releasing a disbelief noise from the back of her throat, Lina turned to her two comrades and began to whisper the next plan of action. As they talked amongst themselves, Pokota watched them from the corner of his eyes. He slowly moved his body forward and grabbed the dagger from the ground. Quickly getting to work, Pokota pressed the black blade against his ropes and cut through most of the ropes. He placed the dagger back to its place before the trespassers found out and pretended to still be bound. All he needed to do now was play the waiting game. Wait until all three were occupied and he will make his escape. A devilish smile slipped on his mouth. Maybe, if the opportunity calls it, he can kill them all and be announced a hero by the townsfolk. It was a great plan.

* * *

Pokota lay with his back turned to the flame, his eyes tightly shut and long hair draped over his arms. He lay still while the three trespassers gathered around the fire. It got dark quick in the Desert of Destruction so their search for Taforashia would have to continue in the morning. Confident that they will find the town in the next day, Gourry took a large bite of the exotic fruit that he had found nearby in a tree. Juices ran down his lips as he took another bite, it was unlike any other fruit he knew of in Saillune and it was quite delicious. The sounds of Gourry chewing noisily into his fruits echoed throughout the camp. Lina, who was also a grotesque eater like Gourry, was staring at her fruit in her hand intently. Occasionally, she would lift her uneasy eyes to the mysterious purple-haired man across the fire. She would watch him for only a few seconds and look away before he noticed her.

What was wrong with her? Lina reached up and held her temples gently. Ever since Xellos saved her life from Pokota's tomahawk, she couldn't stop thinking about him. He just came out of nowhere and stopped the weapon from splitting her face in half. If he wasn't there to save her, she would be dead. No, Lina turned her eyes to her lover, Gourry would have saved her. But, Gourry was busy taking out the other savages, how could he have saved her?

"You are awfully quiet tonight, Lina-San." Xellos suddenly spoke, making Lina look up at him. "You usually have something to say. Is something the matter?" He asked politely with his hands folded on top of his black slender cane. Thinking of something to say, Lina smirked and grabbed one of the fruits that were on her lap.

"I was just wondering how you managed to escape from Amelia."

"That was quite easy." The man chuckled and leaned forward so the fire would illuminate his face. "I had her convinced that Zelgadiss-San needed her desperate help and she quickly ran after him."

"Why did you follow us?" Lina asked so quickly that it made her blush just a little.

"I'm following my orders in this case. I need to apprehend the criminal, Seigram, before he strikes again."

"Aren't you worried that your wounds will reopen?" Gourry asked with a mouthful of fruit.

"I am following orders." Xellos reached for his bundle of fruit next to the fire and grabbed the brightest pink fruit from the ground. He breathed into the exotic smell of the fruit and sighed. "My orders state that I must stop Seigram by any means necessary. Bullet wounds are simply a diversion."

"You are really committed to your orders, aren't you, Xellos?"

"I am under oath." Breaking the skin of the bright pink fruit, Xellos chewed the exotic fruit carefully between his teeth and swallowed it carefully. Contemplating if he should continue eating, he lifted his head when Lina scoffed loudly.

"Under oath to protect and serve justice?" She said with slight disgust and bite into her fruit. "A bunch of bullshit."

"I was actually talking about a completely different oath." Xellos chuckled and decided to finish his fruit.

"Oh? And what oath is that?" Lina raised her eyebrow.

"Well, that," Tossing the seed of the fruit into the fire, he stretched his long legs out and sighed. "Is a secret, Lina-San." Lina rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject. It is not worth the time to interrogate a police officer, it would take a thousand years to get one of them to talk and unfortunately, Lina didn't want to waste a thousand years to learn about a stupid oath.

"So," She copied his movements and stretched her legs out. "You believe that Seigram is after Taforashia?"

"He already knows Philionel-San doesn't know anything, why would he bother to show his face around him?" The man across the fire leaned his cane on a tree trunk nearby and proceeded to unbutton his black suit jacket. "He will go after the only person who can give him something and that is Taforashia."

"How dangerous is this guy?" Gourry took his cowboy hat off and lay down.

"He's more dangerous and stronger than Kanzel and Mazenda." Xellos mentioned. "He uses heavy machinery and is very fast. It's his speed and equipped knowledge that allows him to stay a step ahead and remain uncaught by law enforcement." He removed his black jacket from his body to reveal his white buttoned dress shirt, a heavy gather of bandages were clearly visible around his chest and arms under the thin shirt.

"A fast, heavy machinist with brains." Lina repeated softly. It's going to be like fighting against Filia and Zelgadiss combined. "And not to mention, he's a robot that is powered with Lithium."

"Lina?" Gourry was calling her.

"What is it?" She answered but didn't bother to look at him; her head was still bothered by the information about Seigram. It was only when he brought his warm trench coat over her shoulders did she look at him.

"I don't want you to get cold in the middle of the night." He said with a smile and return to the ground. Placing his hat over his face to shield away the light giving off from the fire, Gourry eventually went to sleep. It was Xellos's soft laugh that got Lina to look away from Gourry.

"I guess the rumors are true." He said softly, his eyes fixed on Lina's expression. "You and the Idiot Stooge are together."

"Is that a bad thing?" Lina asked with a snort.

"If you wish to get pulled down, be my guest." Leaving his seat, Xellos walked around the fire and sat down next to Lina. "I, for one, prefer something different."

"Different?" Slightly uncomfortable, the huntress gathered her legs close to her abdomen and kept to herself while the police official smiled at her.

"Like bullet wounds, relationships are just a diversion." He moved his hand and reached over to the other side of Lina's body to get more firewood, making his face just a few inches from hers.

"And an awful nuisance." Xellos whispered so seductively that it made her face red instantly. When he got a handful of dry wood, Xellos retracted from Lina and tossed the wood to the fire. Lina stared at the large fire in front of her, being shy and silent as Xellos worked the campfire. It was awhile before one of them spoke again.

"What do…?" Lina spoke very quietly. "What do you mean by 'nuisance'?" In a sudden move, Xellos had his arm wrapped tightly around her tiny shoulders and his face was just inches from hers. Lina's eyes widen. No, this was definitely not a daydream. She could feel the heat from the fire warming her feet and the sounds of Gourry's snore next to her. This is not a daydream. He was holding her for real and it was making her heart bounce rapidly under her chest.

"W-What are you doing?" Slight aggression flashed on her face after the blush. Xellos smirked; he kept his position close to her and lifted his slender gloved hand to one side of her cheek. She jumped when he touched her face and released a louder snarl.

"I-I said, what the HELL are you doing?"

"Let me show you." His voice, now wispy like the wind, he moved his head closer while he held Lina's face still. "Why it's such an awful nuisance." And he lightly pressed his lips against hers. Lina stared at his angled face with wide eyes. This man is kissing her. And, why? Why did she feel so compelled to kiss him back? Resisting the urge to move her lips with his, she finally caved in and opened her mouth for their tongues to touch, only to have Xellos pull away instantly.

"W-Wha-What?" She gasped a few times. "Why did you…" Still holding onto her, he cracked an evil smile on his face, making her gulp.

"Aren't you the two-timing devil?" His chest moved with his handsome chuckle. Lina's eyes slightly grew as his smile widen. "Didn't I tell you? Relationships are just an awful nuisance to carry?"

"You… You tricked me!" She shoved him harshly away. Her hands grabbed the ends of Gourry's trench coat and tightly pulled it around her body. "I should kill you-"

"Oh, Gourry-San, you are awake." Xellos cheerfully said and Lina quickly spun around to greet her true love but only to face his sleeping figure. Her entire body twitched in anger as the police officer giggled behind her. "Now, now, Lina-San, it will be our little secret-"

"There is nothing between us so nothing is a secret." Lina snapped at him.

"But I think there is." Reaching around her body, Lina jumped when his arm snaked into Gourry's thick jacket and cupped her right breast. He pressed his body against Lina's back and grinded his hips harshly on her bottom, soft gasps escaped her lips as Xellos massaged the redhead's breast in his hand.

"You see?" Xellos moved his lips to the back of Lina's ear and chuckled. "This…" Lina bit her bottom lip when his other hand entered her pants. "Is our…" His fingers moved slowly downwards. "Little…" Her eyes squeezed tightly the moment the tips of his fingers nudged her pulsing clitoris. "Secret." Violating her in front of her sleeping love, wearing his protective coat, Xellos moved his eyes to the young native that kept his back towards them the entire night. A smile slipped on his face when he saw his shoulders give a slight twitch the moment Lina gave out her first sharp moan of pleasure.


	12. Chapter 12 A Lost Cub

Chapter 12 - A Lost Cub

Pokota ran as fast as he can. He kept running through the thick forest, not looking back. It was only when he thought he saw someone did he stop. His back pressed against a mossy tree and his head lowered between his knees. What did he just witness? Pokota closed his eyes and blushed. He didn't need to see what was happening behind him. That guy with the purple hair was molesting one of the most dangerous people on Red Orb and in front of her dumb lover too. Pokota felt his throat loosen when he swallowed a wad of spit. The redness of his face grew as he remembered the Bandit Killer moaning for Xellos to stop. And then, she started to cry. He could hear her throat cracking as she pleaded him to stop. But, it was strange. When Pokota turned his curious head around, the redhead was straddling the guy and it looked as if she was enjoying the feel of his hands grazing across her thin body.

Almost immediately, Pokota pulled himself close to the tree. He could hear shouts, directly where he was running away from. The bounty hunters must've found the ropes that he was bound in and were coming after him. Pokota was fast but after seeing that guy stop his tomahawk, he doubt that he can out run him. Looking up in to the tree, he decided to stop running and lay in hiding for the rest of the night. They won't be able to see him in the dark if he's in a tree. Once morning comes in a few hours, he will climb down and run as fast as he could to town, tell his father what he had heard and hopefully, the old man will listen.

* * *

The double doors burst open. The young man with long magenta hair ran inside, practically sliding across the bamboo wood floors. As he ran through the long hallway, armed natives with long spears and daggers on their belts looked up from whatever they were doing and watched the lad ran to the lonely door at the end of the hallway.

"Pops!" Not even a knock on the door, Pokota barged in and rushed past the gather of sitting elders on the floor. The eldest man with a full beard and mustache sat content at the farthest end of the circle, his eyes unmoved on the pit of fire in the middle. "Pops! Pops!" Pokota went to the man's side, his knees and hands next to each other.

"What is it, my son?" The founder of the settlement finally turned his head. Unlike his son and the other elders who wore leather clothes with the symbol of their settlement on their skin, Taforashia had his entire body covered in a thick battle dress with fancy beading and dyed feathers. On his head was the Chief headdress, it was brightly colored with feathers, beads, and jewels.

"There are bounty hunters looking for you, Pops! Two of them are the infamous hunting duo, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev!" At the mention of their names, the elders stopped their soft chanting and peered at the excited teen. Pokota noticed their stares and lowered his head to the ground.

"Let me talk to my son." The Chief announced. Slowly but surely, the dozen elders left the room. Using his walking staff, Chief Taforashia tapped the end of the stick next to him, silently ordering Pokota to sit. The boy crossed his legs carefully and placed his hands over his knees, he watched his elderly father closely as he grabbed a large ceramic bowl with colorful beads and a handful of sand from a container.

"Speak now, Pokota." He spoke roughly.

"The Bandit Killer is just minutes away from finding this settlement. She is accompanied with another man named Xellos. All of them are highly skilled and they carry weapons that are made to kill." Pokota sat up when the Chief threw the handful of sand into the fire, making the flames to change color. Taking a few beads from the bowl, Taforashia jiggled the beads in his palm while staring at the blue flames.

"They spoke about a criminal, Pops. They say that this criminal is coming after you and he's REALLY dangerous." Unsure if he should continue or not, Pokota watched his father toss bead after bead into the growing fire, his eyes slightly grew when the dark smoke from the flames began to create figures of animals.

The first figure was of an Eagle, flapping its long wings above their heads like it was flying through air. But, Pokota watched with fearful eyes when the Eagle stopped flapping it wings and reared to the side. A large Coyote, jaws open, leaped at the flying bird from out of nowhere and pushed it into the large vat of smoke. Walking out from that same smoke, a Bear on its hind legs raised its large paws into the sky and a Hawk flew out from its pads. With a wingspan that touched from one wall to the other, the bird looked down at the Bear below it and twisted its head to the Coyote that was racing toward it from behind. The Hawk flapped its wings and flew toward the charging animal, beak first. The Hawk and Coyote splashed against one another, hitting each other so hard that they formed into one dark cloud. It was within that dark cloud did Pokota saw the Bear again. It was holding a large diamond-shaped object in its paws. Holding it high above his head like it was a gift toward the gods. Then in a sudden instant, the Bear threw the object to the ground and it shattered into pieces. The face of the Coyote reappeared and it released a loud wailing cry before fading away. The last thing Pokota saw was the Bear falling to its knees, alone and curled into a ball, it died and faded away just like the Coyote. Confused, the teen turned his head to his father who was fanning the smoke away.

"Pops… What just… What just happened?"

"The future, my son." Chief Taforashia said softly. "Yes. The future." He repeated and looked at his boy. "Your future actually."

"M-My future?" Pokota winced. Not sure of what any of it meant; he waited for his father to explain the premonition like he usually does.

"Do you remember what animals appeared in chronicle order?" Thinking for a second, Pokota nodded.

"The Eagle, Coyote, Bear, and Hawk."

"Do you remember what I taught you about the meaning behind these animals?" When he didn't say anything, Chief Taforashia chuckled softly with a shake of his head. "You need to study, my son." Slightly ashamed, the boy blushed and pouted with his lips.

"Now," The elder sighed. "The Eagle, it is the divine spirit. It's the connection to the creator, the illumination of spirits; it is the sacrifice and renewal. The Coyote is better known as the trickster. It is the intelligent and stealthy swindler, who will deceive the innocent to get its glory. The Bear is the guardian of the world. Filled with courage and will power, self-preservation and great strength, it is sovereignty." He stopped for a second and looked at his engaged son.

"Do you remember what the Hawk is?"

"I'm still… a little… fuzzy in the matter." Pokota chuckled nervously.

"The Hawk is the nobility. It is the recollection of guardianship. The Hawk is the healing." The old man said to him. Nodding to him, Pokota kept silent as his father grabbed more beads from his bowl. This time, he didn't throw it into the fire; he just playfully jiggled it in his hand.

"Was your eyes open, my son? Did you watch the Eagle being defeated by the Coyote?" Chief Taforashia paused. "The Coyote is a mischievous character. It only knows its duty and it will use any means necessary to accomplish its goals. But once the Coyote killed the divine spirit, did you see the Bear walking on its hind legs? With his hands in the air, the large Hawk flew out of his hands and fought against the Coyote.

"It wasn't until the Bear lifted and destroyed the life force of the Coyote, did it die. But once it was destroyed, the Bear died with the Coyote too." Taforashia tossed the pebbles back into its bowl and grabbed his walking staff. With much help from his son, he limp his tired body to the only window in the room and looked outside. Watching the townsfolk from his window with his son, the Chief turned his head to the young man and rest his old calloused hand on top of his shoulder.

"My son, a terrible event will take place in your near future. The death of a divine spirit is also the mark for freedom and once the Eagle in your life has passed, you will achieve a greater understanding of yourself and the courage that you possess. The Coyote will deceive you, misinform your judgment and will make you question your will power but remember," Pokota's eyes widen when a smile appeared on his father's face. "You have the Hawk with you. The Hawk will lead you and it will heal you. It will show you that you are who you are and there is nothing greater than being yourself."

"Pops…" He gulped. Such kind and positive words but his eyes slightly hurt. His father must have noticed the change since he pulled him to his chest and wrapped his arm around Pokota's thin shoulders.

"Don't forget. You are who you are because you are you." He moved his head to meet with his son's eyes. "You are my son. You are Pokota."

"You are… who you are?" Pokota repeated his words but it only gave him greater sadness. Shoving his father's hand off his shoulder, Pokota twisted away from him and gathered the large battle bow and barrel of piercing arrows from the wall.

"I am," Strapping the barrel of arrows to his back and hanging a small pouch made of leather around his waist; he turned to his frowning father and sighed. "I am who I am because you made me like this two years ago, Pops." His fingers tighten around the wooden bow. "I'm not your son-"

"You ARE my son." The Chief said loudly but Pokota just shook his head.

"I'm not." He turned his body away and walked to the door, only to stop halfway there. "But," Pokota looked back at him. "I will be a son to my creator and I will protect him from any dangers that face him."

"Pokota, you are-"

"Pops, please," Pokota spread a smirk across his face, stopping him from talking. "Let me at least pretend to be your son." He went to the room door and just when he opened the door, Pokota stopped to see the heavily armored warriors lying across the hallway floor. They were bound by their own lassos and looked as if they were caught by surprise. Then, he saw them.

"Whoa, grandma!" Lina laughed loudly when the only woman elder in the group flashed her hand of cards at everybody. "You picked a full house on your first draw!"

"The ancestors must have been watching over me." The elder chuckled cheerfully. Pokota growled as the elders laughed alongside the three trespassers over the game of cards.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THREE DOING HERE?" Lina, Gourry, and Xellos turned their heads from their cards. Pokota raised a shaking fist at them. "THIS IS A HIDDEN SETTLEMENT! YOU THREE CAN'T JUST BARGE IN, BEAT THE GUARDS, AND PLAY CARDS WITH THE SACRED ELDERS!"

"We wouldn't have if SOMEONE didn't lead us to his town." Xellos snickered and passed two cards to the old man to his right.

"Lead you-WHAT? I DIDN'T LEAD YOU IDIOTS HERE-"

"Did you really think I threw that dagger in front of you because I wanted you to see it?" The redhead picked up the cards that was passed to her and instantly brought a smile to her face.

"We knew the only way we can get to Taforashia is if you lead us here but since you weren't cooperating, we did a risky move of letting you go and following your every move." She snickered softly with a cat-like face. "So much for being sneaky."

"YOU… YOU…" Grinding his teeth together, Pokota opened his mouth to let out a bunch of nasty words until his father came from behind and placed a hand over his shoulder.

"Are these the three trespassers who wish to talk to me?" The old man asked politely.

"Why, yes we are!" Lina quickly stood up and showed her cards to her opponents, who groaned and tossed their hand in. "We've come to talk to you, Tafor-"

"That's CHIEF Taforashia, flat chest." Pokota snorted loudly.

"Why, you little-" Lina and Pokota exchanged bolts of lightning to each other's eyes.

"May we come in?" Gourry smiled kindly at the Chief.

"Of course you may."

"But, Pops, these three trespassed into our land and tied me up!" Pokota turned to him and waved his arms around. "They are BAD people!"

"Look, we TRESPASSED into the land because we're trying to save your Pops!" Lina snapped at him, making Pokota's eyes wide. "We're not here to kill your Pops! We're here to warn him about the dangers that await him!"

* * *

Sitting in a circle around the fire, Pokota glanced repeatedly between his father and the three trespassers. He listened as they told him about the failed assassination of his long-time comrade, Philionel, and about the Alliance of the East and their sorrowful death that was handed to them by the criminal, Seigram. Xellos flashed his officer badge and informed the Chief about Seigram's true intention.

"He knows that you are the only person who would know where the Lithium excavation sites in Saillune are located." The purple-haired investigator said. "And once he gets that information, he's going to kill you and the rest of the people in this settlement."

"Why would he do that?" Pokota asked loudly, his eyebrows curled angrily. "Why would he kill our kind? He has the information-"

"And he's going to make sure that he's the only one who has that information." Xellos quickly told him. "Seigram is clever. He won't risk leaving anything behind to track it back to him, especially if it is something living." Looking at his father now, Pokota waited anxiously as the old man stared at the building fire in front of him. They waited patiently until his Pops released a loud snore, making them all release a loud noise.

"EXCUSE ME." Lina reached over and grabbed the old man by the end of his short beard. She pulled him roughly around, waking him up instantly. "WE WERE TALKING ABOUT LIFE OR DEATH HERE."

"I-I apologize." The Chief chuckled embarrassing-like. Stroking his beard gently, he let out a soft sigh and smiled happily at the three faces. "As you see, I'm an old man. I'm afraid my memory is not as sharp as it was three years ago."

"So," Lina questioned. "You don't know where the Lithium caves are located, then?"

"I'm afraid not." The old man chuckled. Glancing at Lina and Xellos's sighing expressions, Gourry looked back at the Chief and smiled.

"I guess there was no need for the warning then."

"I guess not." Chief Taforashia nodded to them. Ordering his son to walk the visitors out, he gave each of them a handshake and sent them on their way.

"I'm sorry about Pops." Pokota lead the three trespassers through the hallway. "He's getting older and his mind is not all there."

"It's better that he forgot, rather than remember." Lina said with her arms crossed. Pokota opened the front door of the one-level mansion and looked back at the three taller visitors.

"Because Pops doesn't remember the location of the Lithium excavation sites, are we still in danger?" The three exchanged looks and back at the worried teenager.

"I'm not guaranteeing your Pops' safety but if he doesn't know anything, the lives of this settlement shouldn't be harmed." The leader of the three whispered. Pokota noticed the uncertainty on Lina's face; he lowered his face and pushed the door wider.

"Thank you for coming."

"It was our pleasure." Xellos chimed in cheerfully. He was the last one to leave the home and when he did, he looked back at Pokota while Lina and Gourry continued to walk away.

"By the way," The boy stopped the door from closing. Chuckling, Xellos folded both hands over his cane and leaned his body to his left. His eyes slightly drew open. It was the same look that he gave Pokota when he met him.

"For a person who supposedly died three years ago, you are in great condition." He smirked when Pokota fidgeted. "Or could it be the Lithium that is keeping you alive?"

"H-How…" Pokota's throat tightened. Closing the gap that existed between them, Xellos grabbed his free hand and gripped it firmly in his gloved hand.

"Tell me, Pokota-San," The officer's hand felt tight around his. "Do you dream or just simply close your eyes, waiting to sleep only to never know what sleep is?"

"I… I…" He felt exposed in front of this man. As he shook his hand firmly, Xellos only looked away when he heard Gourry calling for him.

"Don't worry," Xellos turned his attention back to Pokota. "It will be our little secret." It was the same line he said to that redheaded huntress. Pokota watched from the doorway as the man let go of his shaking hand and caught up to his two teammates. It was true what he said. He didn't know how to sleep even after two years of existing amongst humans. He'd just close his eyes and pretend to be asleep to feel more human. This is natural though. His father told him that his body wasn't going to go through what a normal body was supposed to go through. He told him that Lithium can only do so much. It will give him the ability to live but at the same time, he won't be able to live. Pressing his hand over his chest, he tried to feel, although he knew it was impossible. Instead of soft beats of a heart, low vibrations echoed throughout his body. It was the Lithium. The Lithium prevented him from dying but it also prevented him to do anything else. It only gave others a perspective that he is a normal teenager but underneath it all, he is just a hunk of metal with fake rubbery skin and a fake heart.

"I'm a fake." He despised it. Able to think and experience feelings like a human being, he was unable to really feel or touch anything. All he could really 'feel' is the metal beneath his skin rubbing against a flat surface. Whenever his friends would explain how soft or smooth the surface of an object would be, he would stare at them with lost emotions. What is soft? What is smooth? What is hard? What is anything? He got nothing and it was unfair. Did he deserve to experience all these feelings like love and happiness, when he can't even feel the warmth of someone's lips when it comes in contact with his skin? How is he able to love when he can't feel his lover's strong grasp around his waist?

"My son." Pokota turned around quickly. Standing behind him with his walking staff in his hand was his father. Not wanting to show the sadness on his face, Pokota turned away from him.

"I was just saying goodbye to the three trespassers." The young teen proceeded to close the door until the old man grabbed his shoulder and twisted his body to face him.

"My son." The Chief held his shoulder tightly. "Your future must become a reality if the tales of what Lina Inverse and her friends have told here are true."

"Pops, what are you-"

"Run away, Pokota." His father suddenly shoved him out of the mansion.

"H-Hey!" Pokota yelped when he fell to the front door step. He gathered himself to his feet and grabbed the doorknob. Irritation flashed on his face when he realized that his father just locked him out of their home. "Dammit, Pops." Snarling, Pokota walked around the house toward the back door. To his shock, his father had locked that door too.

"Dammit." He had no choice but to go through a window and the only window in the house was in his father's office. Only, when he got to the window, he saw that it was drawn open. Pokota stopped next to the open window still. There was a terrible rusty lock on the window. His father had absolute no strength in his fingers, it was physically impossible for him to open or close anything.

"Pops?" He called for his father from outside of the window. "Hey, Pops?" Taking a wide step to start climbing over the window, he stopped when he heard a low vibration. It was the same vibration like the one that came out of his chest. Pokota could feel the vibration rumbling against the wooden window frame, it made the metal beneath his skin shake against each other. It was silent just like his but this one made heavier and wilder shakes. His fingers gripped against the wooden frame. There was another robot is in his home with his maturing father. Leaping over the window still and swiping the tomahawk from the wall of his father's office, Pokota rushed out of the office and called for his father.

"Pops!" He looked over the long hallway that ran between his office and to the front door. There was nobody there. With only two rooms in this home and the first room completely empty, Pokota ran to the second room, his bedroom. Kicking down the door, he froze when he saw the other robot. He looked unlike him. Covered in thick white bandages over his head and arms, he wore a black hooded cloak that concealed his entire thick and large body. At the end of his arm, which was supposed to be a hand was instead a rapid-fire weapon with multiple barrels and it was aimed at the face of his father.

"POPS!" Pokota shouted. The robot turned its bandaged face toward him; he could see his red glowing eyes peering at him. Raising his weapon, Pokota charged at him. "GET AWAY FROM MY FATHER!"

"P-Pokota!" Chief Taforashia called out with a gasp when the strange weapon moved away from his face and at his scrawny mechanical son. Seigram released the trigger and rapid bullets began to fly at Pokota. Miraculously, most of the bullets missed the target but it did hit the teen on both shoulders and ribcage. Unable to feel the damage done to his body, Pokota continued to charge and when he got close, he swung the tomahawk at his head but Seigram blocked it with his free arm. His weapon stopped firing and hit the boy off, making Pokota slam against the wall of his room. He let out a sharp choking sound from his mouth when he opened his eyes, Seigram stood over his sprawled body with the Gatling gun-arm pointed directly at the end of his nose.

"So, this is your son?" His voice was low and raspy, like he never had a drink of water in his life. Seigram tilted his head side-to-side, inspecting the bullet wounds on the boy. A psychotic snicker slipped beneath his bandages. "Or should I say, this is your robot?" Another one who knows his real identity! Pokota glared at the fiend, his face twisted as the criminal continued to laugh at him.

"Please!" Taforashia called out with his arms reaching out. "I'll tell you everything! Just please, don't kill him!" Pokota moved his eyes to his father. He had dropped to his knees, begging to the killer to spare Pokota's life. He didn't get it. Why is he begging him? Pokota's eyes slightly watered. Why is his creator begging this criminal to spare his life when he can just build him again? He's just a robot, made after his actual son.

"P-Pops…" Watching this old man begging and pleading on his hands and knees for a robot made no sense. He's not human, he can always be rebuilt, so why then? Why is he trying so hard to protect his life? Why is this old man protecting a life that doesn't belong to him? It was probably the smile of relief that Taforashia spread across his face when Pokota realized that Seigram ditched him and turned his gun at his creator.

"NO!" Pokota struggled to move. "HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!" He shouted but his shouts were unheard, Seigram still kept his gun at the Chief's face. "HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Pokota continued to scream. Having trouble seeing, he waved his head side-to-side to make the irritation leave his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, tears were flowing heavily down. It was probably the tears that prevented him from seeing another person stepping into the room.

"The location, Old Man." Seigram moved his weapon closer to his father's face. "WHERE IS IT?"

"If you're wondering where the location to the Lithium excavation sites are then you're out of luck." The robot turned around abruptly, the Gatling gun still positioned at the tip of Taforashia's nose. Leaning against the doorway of the room, Lina smiled with her arms crossed over her chest. "The senile old man doesn't know where it is."

"Lina Inverse." Seigram whispered her name coldly. He moved his eyes around the room, looking around to see where her companion was. "And where is your stooge?"

"Right above you!" Leaping from out of nowhere, Gourry held his sword high and pushed it down against the air, toward Seigram's face. Quick and agile, Seigram was able to dodge the move only to get hit by Lina's daggers in the chest.

"Get the old man and the puny kid out of here!" Lina shouted at Gourry who was already picking up Chief Taforashia from the ground.

"W-What about you?" Lina turned her head back when Pokota asked loudly. Her eyes quickly moved over his body, she saw the shiny bright lights of Lithium from the opening of the wounds. She looked back at Pokota's face and gave off a confident smile that made him fidget.

"Worry about yourself, kid." Turning around to face Seigram, she grabbed her trusty revolver from her right hip and pulled back the hammer. "I'll be just fine." As Gourry carried him on his shoulder, Pokota watched the self-assured redhead stand in front of him. With posture filled with poise and a smile that made death squirm in its track, this is the Bandit Killer. Once Gourry got out of the room, Lina sighed when Seigram easily got her daggers out of his body, leaks of red fluid squirt out of the holes her knives made. Splashed on the floor, bits of coal-like mineral were shown in his blood.

"Looks like you're about to expire too." Lina muttered and looked up at his unreadable mask. "Tell me, how long does the Lithium last until it runs out of juice?"

"Depends on how much the body needs," He obediently answered with slight arrogance in his voice. "Take that kid. His creator made him thin and scrawny for a reason. His battery is going to last him for a long time." Extending his gun arm at Lina, a soft chuckle came from his bandages. "Ever since I acquired my Gatling gun to replace my arm, it's been costing me my power. I'd say in a couple more months, I will be dead like you will be after I'm done with you."

"Couple more months?" Lina scoffed and raised her gun to meet with his. "Why wait?"

* * *

Outside of the settlement and away from danger, Gourry dropped Pokota's body against the grass, he apologized softly when his head hit against a large boulder.

"Don't worry about it, I don't feel a thing." The robot muttered sorely and turned to his elderly father, who was beginning to pant louder than any of them. "Pops? Pops, what's wrong?" He grabbed his hands, only to have his father shove them away.

"Pokota…" Chief Taforashia grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down to his level. "Come closer." Pokota nodded and leaned his ear to his mouth. As the Chief whispered feathery into his ear, Gourry stood up suddenly when he heard loud gun fire from the village. Lina can't handle a heavy machinist on her own; she's going to need his help.

"There you are, Gourry-San." Stepping out of the thick bushes, Xellos suddenly walked over. Behind him were the rest of the townsfolk, safe and sound away from the violence.

"I'm going to go back to Lina." Gourry took his blade out of his sheath. "You watch over the people."

"It's part of my job description." The purple-haired man chuckled cheerfully. As soon as Gourry left the safety of the forest, Xellos turned his body to the dying old man and his robot son. He watched Taforashia whisper into Pokota's ear. His eyebrow rose when Pokota nodded and got up to his feet.

"Watch my father." He told Xellos and sprinted away, leaving Xellos alone with Taforashia.

* * *

The village was in a blaze. Leaping away from the burning homes, Pokota was leaving from the farthest house when he spotted them. Having ditched her black vest, Lina ran through the heavy flames, in her hands was her shotgun. She jumped behind a wooden table that was slightly on fire and loaded her gun, her back pressed against the wood. Lina yelped aloud when bullets flew through the wooden table, next to her face and instantly rolled away on the ground. The criminal stood with his gun extended at her, open fire and blasting rapid rounds. As she rolled on the ground, Lina pulled back at her forend and pumped out empty shells from the magazine loading port. Her accuracy was great, every shot hit him in his chest but it wasn't enough to bring him down. Just when Seigram had Lina in his cross hairs, Gourry came charging from the flames and brought his sword down, slashing him against his side.

"Thanks, Gourry!" Disregarding her shot gun, Lina pulled her sniper rifle from behind her back and pushed in a 140MM bullet into the cartridge. She looked when Pokota bumped his thin body next to her on the ground and glared at him. "When I said I'll be fine, I meant it."

"You're not going to get him. He's too close to Gourry." Pokota ignored her comment. Lina sighed; she positioned her head and watched Gourry and Seigram through the telescopic view.

"You really need to stop bringing me down to your level, kid." Controlling her heartbeat to slow down with her breathing, Lina counted back from ten with every slow beat.

"Stop moving, you insolent fool!" Seigram missed Gourry's bouncing body; his bullets hit the dirt near his feet. Once the bullets stopped shooting, Gourry charged at the man again with his sword at his side. He made a sudden sharp turn to the left when Seigram moved his heavy black cloak and revealed a hand-held heavy machine gun strapped around his fully-covered bandaged body. He laughed as he shot at Gourry, chasing him with rapid bullets like he did with the Alliance of the East. Gourry jumped when a large pillar of fire came crashing down in front of him, stopping him from running toward that direction. He turned around to face Seigram, his sword still drawn open.

"Time to die." He snickered wickedly and lifted the gun barrel to his head.

"Got you." Lina smirked and pulled the trigger of her rifle. When the cartridge fired inside the chamber, the force from the charge directed its complete power at the base of the bullet and propelled it down the long barrel. Twisting to leave the barrel, the bullet charged across the burning houses and entered from Seigram's left cheek and left at his right temple, next to his red glowing eye. Pokota's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. They were at one end of the village and this guy was at the other end, and still, she was accurately able to make a head shot.

"One thing about me, kid," She unbolted her cartridge and entered another bullet. "Lina Inverse never misses." Struggling to keep at his feet, the blood from Seigram's head poured profusely out. It was Lina's second bullet that got him to fall to his knees. Aimed in the center of his chest, it entered and never left the other side. The three of them gathered around the fallen robot, waiting for him to move.

"That was easy." Gourry muttered suddenly. Lina nodded, she kicked at the robot at his side.

"That was too easy." It didn't move. Not wanting to be fooled by a robot twice, she ordered Gourry to slice off the Gatling gun from his arm and throw it into the fire. As he did so, Pokota stood over his fellow robot. He stared at the heavily bandaged body, wondering if he covered his body for a reason. Not wanting to see what is under the wraps, it didn't stop him from looking at the pool of blood near his feet. Clumps of used Lithium were in his blood, the size of pebbles. Pokota looked at the blood leaking from his arm. It just looked like blood. There was nothing in it.

"That's because the Lithium in your body is still new." Lina suddenly spoke; he turned his head to her. "When the Lithium begins to lose its power, it disregards its rotting pieces through the blood." She stopped to see his black tomahawk in his hand and smirked. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"No, I…" Pokota gave a little gulp. "I don't know anything about myself. I just know that Pops built me after his real son died." He lifted the weapon in the air. "This is the discarded Lithium that we used to power the village for the first year. We use natural elements like the sun for power now so Lithium is no longer needed."

"How did your Pops get the Lithium to make you?" Lina asked. Slight hesitation flashed on Pokota's face, he stared at Lina and Gourry's strong expression and slowly, he looked away.

"I don't know." He whispered. Gourry glanced at Lina, who was intensely staring at Pokota's weak behavior. Instead of interrogating like she'd always do when she knew somebody knew more than they projected, Lina just gave him a smile and nodded.

"Come on, then. Let's go back to your Pops." But when they did arrive to the forest where Gourry left Chief Taforashia, they stopped to see Xellos kneeling next to his lain body. He had his gloved hand over the old man's eyes, closing them carefully. He was dead.

* * *

Lina pulled herself on top of her horse, a smiled slipped on her face when she saw that the native women in the village had decorated her horse saddle with red beads and white hawk feathers. Appropriate for the occasion, she looked back at the gather of people standing near the entrance of the oasis. They raised their hands to the air and waved, calling out for a safe trip. At the front of the group, Pokota stood with the headdress that his father wore before him. He watched the once-called trespassers start their way back home, his eyes never leaving the back of the redhead. He watched until he was the only one standing. Lina had long disappeared from his sight at the first mound but that wasn't why he was still looking out into the ocean of sand before him. Tightly grasping the rolled-up parchment in his hand, Pokota finally turned his body and walked away.


	13. Chapter 13 Back to Basics

Chapter 13 - Back to Basics

It took them a few days to get back home but Gourry was happy to be back. He waved his hand to greet the townsfolk of Saillune. Happier than most days, it was because he had time to spend quality time with his redheaded lover. They've been quite distant toward each other since this entire robot situation started and never got a chance to love each other. But now, Gourry looked at the redhead in front of him, they are home and he has all the time in the world.

"Gourry," Lina called him and he lit up. "Can you take the horses to their stable while Xellos and I inform the others what happened?"

"Um, sure."

"Thanks." Once they were in front of the shop, Xellos and Lina handed Gourry the reins to their horses and jumped off. Gourry watched Lina walk ahead of Xellos but he gained momentum and opened the front door of the shop for her like a gentleman. She let out a loud scoff at him and turned abruptly into the shop, making her ponytail hit against his kind face. He chuckled softly at her cold action and followed after her, his cane hitting the hardwood with every step. Gourry sighed with a smile. He really needed to teach Lina how to be nice.

Slipping off his horse, he led the three large animals to the back of the shop where their stables were located. Instead of tying them up, he took off the saddles and let them graze on Filia's untrimmed yard with the other horses. It was between brushing the mane of his horse and hand feeding another with carrots, did he hear Filia's loud screeches and Xellos's snickers from the kitchen. Not wanting to miss anymore, Gourry dropped the rest of the carrots to the feeding bucket and rushed to the back door. The moment he opened the door, Gourry released a loud yelp when a chair was flung at his face and dodged it at the last second.

"NAMAGOMI!" Filia screamed at the purple-haired man. "I WISH YOU DIED WHEN YOU GOT SHOT!" She lifted another wooden chair above her head and proceeded to throw it at him but Gourry quickly stopped her.

"That hurts my feelings, Filia-San." Sitting between Lina and Zelgadiss behind the round table, Xellos sipped his tea with a teasing smile. "I thought we were friends."

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS! WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE FRIENDS! I'D RATHER HAVE YOU AS A LITTLE BUG THAT I CAN SQUASH!"

"That's ironic since I'd rather have you in bed." He snickered. Redness developed over her face, in which turned into great anger. Before Filia can explode at him, Lina finally had enough and raised her hands to calm the enraged woman.

"Filia! Calm down! He's just messing around!"

"If you wanted attention, Lina-San, I'll gladly give it to you." Xellos suddenly said. Pounding her fist into Xellos's face, it was Lina's turn to be pulled away from him.

"I DON'T WANT ANYTHING OF YOURS!"

"That's not what you said a couple days ago." The bruised man said softly before taking another sip of tea. Zelgadiss, who was holding back the snarling redhead, looked down at her.

"What's he talking about?"

"Ignore him." Lina snorted with rolled eyes. "He's talking shit." She shrugged out of his hold and sat down in her seat in which she moved her chair far away from Xellos. The officer just smiled and continued to blow at his hot tea. Finally the team was about to talk about what had happened the past few days. Lina and Xellos took turns talking about their arrival in paradise located in the center of the Desert of Destruction, the encounter with the robot son of Taforashia, and the fight with Seigram.

"He wasn't strong at all." Lina said softly. "I thought he'd be faster but he looked as if he was unprepared to go against all of us."

"Unprofessional." Filia scoffed loudly. "He brings heavy machinist a bad name." She said while tipping her tea into her mouth.

"Not every heavy machinist carries a 150lbs iron mace under their dress, Filia." Zelgadiss snorted. She just rolled her eyes and kept sipping her drink.

"What about you?" The huntress looked at him. "You got anything in Halshifom's mansion?" Zelgadiss released a loud scowl and turned his eyes at Xellos who was already chuckling. Before he could say anything, the daughter of Saillune's Mayor walked in with an armful of folders and wanted posters.

"Excuse me for interrupting but since you all haven't been accepting any jobs, law enforcement has been weighed heavily with criminals running in and out of their doors." She walked straight to the table, only to notice Zelgadiss sitting to the right of her and turned quickly to the left. Lina watched as the young woman walked an extra few steps around the table next to her side and dumped it over the table while Zelgadiss folded his arms across his chest and kept his body turned away from the table.

"This has to be 40 wanted criminals, Amelia!" Filia exclaimed loudly when Amelia gave her the list.

"I'm sorry, Filia-San, but this is only half of them." Amelia started to stack the files on top of each other. She handed a stack to Lina and Gourry, whom groaned simultaneously. "We need to get every one of them by the end of this week." The thickest folders with the lowest reward amount were rudely thrown at Zelgadiss's side of the table. Suddenly getting an idea, Filia took a few of the folders from Lina and Gourry's piles and dumped it in front of Xellos. He stared at the stack and looked up at the grinning woman.

"As long as you are in Saillune, you are under my command and a part of my hunting group."

"Yes but I have my rights too-"

"Your rights have been taken away ever since you became under me." She quickly told him and poured more tea into her cup. Defeated, Xellos sighed and reluctantly took a look at his pile of folders.

"This is a lot of cases." Zelgadiss spoke finally; he was looking through his crappy pick of the litter. "It seems like Saillune's law enforcement is getting lazier and lousier every day." He remarked harshly. A twist of emotions flashed on Amelia's face, she glared slightly at him from over the wanted poster she was looking at with Gourry. Collecting her coolness, Amelia turned the glare into a simple smile.

"Why, that's because they rely so much on this bounty hunting team that they have forgotten what they learned from the police academy," A slight pause. "Zelgadiss." She said his name quite loudly, and without the prefix. The kitchen turned silent. The innocent bystanders glanced between Amelia's grin and Zelgadiss's calm collective face. He kept his eyes on the file in front of him, saying nothing.

"Um, Amelia?" Filia turned to Amelia quickly, desperate to calm the awkward uncomfortable feeling in the room. "Val has a lot of homework today so why don't you take over his shift for now? I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

"What a great idea." She nodded and stepped around the table slowly. "That will be a great way to make up the time I ditched Val-Kun on our dinner date." Walking past Zelgadiss's body, she stopped near the doorway.

"Maybe I should ask him out again because you know, he's such a gentleman. Unlike someone ELSE I know." With everyone's eyes on him, Zelgadiss just kept silent, he was still staring at the file in front of him. When he flipped a page on the file, Amelia pouted slightly at her failed attempt.

"Anyways, I have to go. Have a great time hunting the criminals, Lina-SAN and Gourry-SAN. And thank you so much for giving us your assistance on this, Xellos-SAN, you are such a nice person." She emphasized every '-San' on their names.

"It's my pleasure, Amelia-SAN." Xellos joined in, he smiled when Zelgadiss's fingers beginning to shake. Seeing that Xellos was on her side, she giggled softly and looked down at Zelgadiss's emotionless expression.

"Bye, ZELGADISS." She said directly behind him and quickly left. The moment the door to the kitchen closed, Zelgadiss instantly slammed his fist on the table and glared upon Xellos's giggling face.

"You fucking bastard. I know it was YOU."

"Why, I don't know what I did, Zelgadiss-SAN-"

"DON'T ACT STUPID AND DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT." He snarled loudly. "Because of you, Amelia followed me to Halshifom's mansion and pulled all the booby traps that were still active in that stupid house. I ALMOST DIED FROM POISONOUS ARROWS, DROWNED FROM RUSHING WATER, AND CRUSHED FROM WALLS CAVING IN." Zelgadiss ran his hand through his silvery hair, moving some of his bangs away from his burnt face. "All the information that was hidden away in his lab that could've been used to our benefit was completely wiped cleaned because of her clumsy actions."

"Is that why she's so mad at you?" Gourry asked with a bowl of hidden cookies he found in the kitchen.

"NO." He pouted angrily and decided to stop talking.

"Amelia is upset because she's never going to be a bounty huntress." Filia informed.

"Well, she's been hearing that shit from Zel for a year now, she should've been over that."

"Not until I made her one." She said with a nervous smile since Zelgadiss was glaring at her.

"YOU MADE HER A HUNTRESS?" Lina and Gourry yelped. "How did you get Phil to agree to that?"

"Believe me, it wasn't easy but Amelia shows great potential and her martial arts is only getting better-" Filia noticed Zelgadiss's fingers tapping irritably on the table top. "A-And well, Phil will only allow Amelia to be a huntress until she learns how to properly shoot a revolver."

"Let me guess," The redhead chuckled wearily. "He only wants Zel to teach her?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oh, come on, Zel!" Lina called after him when he gathered his things to leave. "We need a fourth member-"

"NO." And that was his final answer. As he left the room, Lina sighed aloud and draped her body over the table.

"This is why relationships are such a nuisance." She suddenly blurted out from her lips. Quickly moving her eyes at Xellos, she glared at him when he just smiled at her.

* * *

Gourry waited until they were alone and when they were, he quickly sat next to Lina's side on the round table and dumped his files with hers.

"There has to be over 15 people we need to catch between us." He said as he looked over her shoulder, pretending to be interested in the file in her hand. Lina let out a soft noise with a nod and continued to read the folder. Getting closer, she only finally noticed him when his body pressed against her side. He drew his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, making Lina look at him.

"Gourry?" She met his eyes filled with lust and blushed wildly. He was in the mood. Tremendously in the mood. Lina adjusted in her seat, her legs rubbed against each other as his hand gently rubbed down her arm and rested on her hip.

"G-Gourry, what are you…" His hand slipped under her tight red top, gently caressing her flat tummy. She squirmed from his gentle touch. It was unbearable. She needed him. But when her eyes slightly open, she saw something that she didn't want to see. A rush of uncomfortable emotions flushed throughout her entire body. Usually allowing him to continue with his curious hands, Gourry raised his eyebrow when Lina grabbed his arm, preventing it to climb up her abdomen.

"Not here, Gourry. Someone might walk in on us."

"Then, let's go to my room-"

"Tonight." She firmly told him. "Let's do it tonight."

"But Lina-"

"No buts." Taking his hand out of her top, she took his face with both her hands and gave him the most passionate kiss that she can ever give. When their lips disconnected, Gourry released a sigh of relief and smiled with great content.

"Now, if you like that kiss, than you'll wait for me tonight." Lina teased with another kiss on the tip of his nose. "That's just a little preview of what is awaiting for you." Obediently nodding at her, his expression changed when he realized that Lina was leaving him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to change out of these filthy clothes before we leave." She answered just as quickly as she left. Running up the stairs to their bedrooms, Lina looked behind her before she entered her room, making sure that Gourry did not follow her. Once she heard the backdoor slam, Lina opened her room and locked it behind her.

"Look," The redhead turned to face the visitor in her room. "I don't know what game you're playing but you better stop before you piss me off." Placing her hands to her hips, she watched her bedroom guest chuckle and sit up on her bed.

"I'm not playing any games, Lina-San." Xellos patted the empty space next to him. "Will you sit?"

"No, I won't sit." Instead, she sat behind her dresser that held a large reflective glass. "Now, tell me what the fuck you want from me."

"There is nothing I want." The purple-haired man smirked. He opened his slit eyelids and revealed his brightly lit amethyst eyes. "But there is something I need." Staring into his eyes, it made her shiver. Not wanting him to see her tremble before him, Lina repositioned herself on her seat. Turning away from him, she didn't want to look at herself in the mirror so decided to brush her long hair with her brush. There was a silent pause between them. Afraid to ask but knowing that he's not going to answer unless asked, Lina swallowed some of her courage and finally asked him.

"And what is it that you NEED?" First he released his handsome laugh that got her to blush, then he got off her bed and that made her fidget. Xellos walked over to the hesitant redhead, his cane dragging lightly on the floor next to his feet. She noticed him walking over from the mirror's reflection and lowered her eyes to her unused makeup kit on top of her dresser. Her body gave off a little tremble when he stopped just inches behind her. He lifted his hand and using the back of his fingertips, he skirmish them around her thick red locks and touched her smooth cheek from behind.

"Well, that's a secret." His fingers pushed back several strands of hair behind her ear. "But in due time, I will reveal it to you."

"Isn't that nice of you to share?" She mocked with her eyes still lowered. Xellos chuckled at her rudeness and continued to touch her cheek with the back of his gloved hand. Lina winced when his head bent down and brushed his lips against the back of her head. Her eyes instantly closed at the soft touch, the redness on her face glowed brighter.

It was his kisses that drove her crazy. The first time he kissed her, it was soft and kind but the second time, it was hard and filled with benevolent lust. Now, this kiss, although not her lips, it was soft again but with temptation. It made her want to adventure further. No, the back of her mind screamed, this is not right! What about Gourry? The mention of Gourry made Lina stand up suddenly and leave his presence. Xellos watched her walk away to the window in her bedroom. He stared at the distraught expression on her face and how she hugged herself tightly with her arms. A smile slipped on his face.

"I'm not asking you to stop making love with your lover." Walking quite sternly to her, Lina jumped when he pressed his body against her back, his arms trapped her from leaving. "In fact," From the window, Lina gulped when she saw Gourry stepping in front of the store. His arms stretched above his head, he gave off what looked like a sigh of happiness and smiled at the townsfolk who walked past him. "I encourage you to make love with him and wash the memories of our night away." Xellos's cool wispy voice breathed next to her ear.

"The night I touched your more than willing body in front of his sleeping body and you begged me for more." Her eyes grew wide as her body slightly trembled from his voice. "The night you made me relieve whatever emotion and doubt that you were holding back." She let out a sharp gasp when Xellos's hand grasped at her bicep; he turned her body around to finally face him. Using his body as an anchor, Lina was suddenly shoved against the window still, their foreheads nudging together.

"Just remember that you wanted it more than me." It was a realization that Lina could not get over. Xellos smiled evilly at her. He loved seeing her humiliation but at the same time, disappointed that the worldly Bandit Killer could be manipulated so easily. Oh well, Xellos moved his face closer only to have her move away, this is what happens when love comes into effect.

"Just remember that and the favor you owe me for not mentioning any of this to your beloved swordsman." Of course it was blackmail. Something like this will always end in blackmail. Giving her another soft kiss on her cheek, Xellos unhanded her and walked briskly out of the room, leaving a permanent mark on his plaything.

* * *

Gourry watched in amazement. He didn't see anything like it.

"AND THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR BREAKING THE DAMN LAW!" Lina tighten the ropes around the captured criminal while Zelgadiss dumped another wanted man next to him.

"That makes 8 criminals in just one day!" An overjoyed police official exclaimed. At the police station with the wanted fugitives at hand, the group of dressed policemen celebrated as the infamous trio of bounty hunters had started hunting again.

"Don't stop counting yet." The huntress kicked the sides of the wanted men angrily. "The day isn't over until dinner is made."

"We should be able to get all these repeat offenders by then." Zelgadiss tapped the back of his hand at the collective wanted posters in his other hand, bringing a round of applause from the law enforcement. Gourry scratched the end of his chin. Well, the only reason they were able to capture so much in such little time was because Zelgadiss and Lina were 'blowing steam'.

Ever since Amelia's interruption during that morning meeting, Zelgadiss couldn't stop glaring at every person he saw and throw in overly threatening statements that had all the fugitives cower in their cowboy boots. And Lina, well, Gourry tilted his head to the side, Lina is always mad so seeing her shooting at everybody wasn't so surprising as seeing Zelgadiss threatening a family with children to give up their drunken wanted father or he will shove their family pet up their asses.

"Gourry, quit daydreaming." Zelgadiss snapped his fingers in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts. "We're headed to the other side of the town to visit a criminal at his home."

"Are you going to threaten his family like you did to the other family?"

"I have every authority to terrorize a home who has any intelligence about our fugitive." Zelgadiss answered firmly and climbed on to his horse. Gourry sighed and nodded. While riding their horses up and down the busy dirt street of Saillune, they would spot Amelia and Val walking together, handing out wanted posters of criminals that were a harder catch. Riding past her, Amelia would notice Zelgadiss looking at her and make a sudden turn away, purposely ignoring him.

"That little-" And he would make his horse trot faster away. This time, when they were passing by again, Amelia hooped her arm around Val's and placed her head on the blushing teen's shoulder. Zelgadiss moved his hand over his gun holster and took his revolver out, Lina and Gourry quickly got in his way to prevent him from shooting the innocent boy.

* * *

It wasn't only the hunters who were having a hard time containing themselves. Back in the shop, Filia was dusting off her merchandise with her bushy feather duster. Occasionally she would drop the duster to her side and look over her beautiful pottery, a sigh of happiness slip out of her lips. But it was soon interrupted by the loud noise that was coming from her workshop.

"Filia-San." The annoying police officer sang her name. "I made a big boo-boo." He called out with a hint of joy. Groaning, she stopped what she was doing and stomp her way through her crowd of customers and enter her pottery room. Spread over her tile floor, Filia stared at the work-of-art that she had spent 8 hours in making. A sigh of disappointment and tiredness came out of her mouth. It really was no use in yelling at this guy, he's just going to break another one in a few minutes.

"Don't worry, Filia-San, I'll make a better one." Xellos sat behind a pottery wheel with a clump of grey clay already spinning in front of him. With his black suit jacket and gloves off, he rolled his white long sleeves to his elbows and began to morph the clay. Saying nothing, Filia grabbed her broom and dustpan. As she swept the shattered pieces of her beloved masterpiece into a pile, her eyes would travel back and forth to Xellos. She never saw such concentration from him. His eyebrows were curled in the middle while his covered hands sculpted the clay into a cylinder tube-like vase. After the fourth time he shook his purple hair out of his face, Filia released a loud irritated snort and walked over to him.

"I got it." She released the bun on top of her head, allowing her long golden locks to fall beyond her bottom. Using her own tie, Filia scooped up his vibrant purple mane and tied it into a small ponytail. Even pulling back his chopped bangs away from hiding part of his eyes, he kept quiet as she pinned his hair back and came around to see her new masterpiece.

"It should be easier now." Xellos stared at the unfamiliar smile on her face. It was perhaps the first smile she ever gave him since they met. Instead of taking advantage of her friendliness, he just lowered his head to his clay work and continued. Filia stood in front of him, waiting for him to say something back but he kept working on his pottery. Rolling her eyes, she gave up on him and return to her sweeping.

"I guess saying 'thank you' is not practiced where you're from." Filia muttered with a slight darker tone in her voice. She turned her head when he suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

"It is but the sight of seeing your abnormally large forehead rendered me speechless." Grabbing the large unfinished pot from her work table, she lifted it over her head to throw it at him but what came next stopped her in her tracks almost immediately.

"You should wear your hair down more often." He suddenly changed the subject. "It suits you."

"Say that again?" Filia froze with the large pot still in her hands. Looking at her now, Xellos gave her a genuine smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"You look beautiful with your hair down." Her entire face got red in a second. Standing there with the pot still positioned over her head, Filia stared at Xellos intently as he return to his clay work. Did he just call her beautiful? Her mouth opened slightly, she struggled to say something back. He DID just call her beautiful! Filia gulped, she could feel her face getting redder and redder by the second. Did he mean it? Her mind got fuzzy with confusing sensations. Of course he didn't mean it! He's just making fun of you, Filia! Her mind shouted at her and she nodded to herself. Of course this Namagomi didn't mean anything he said. He's only saying it to get to her head! And it wasn't working at all! Whatever crap that spills from his lips, won't work on her! So, Filia held her breath when he looked back at her again with those intense amethyst eyes, why is she still thinking about it?

"FI-CHAN!" Out of nowhere, a regular customer poked his head into the workshop. Filia jumped at the sudden surprise that she unintentionally let go of the pot from her hands, dropping it square on her head. She fell to the floor at a very 'Looney tune inspired' personal injury, holding her throbbing sore head while releasing a soft hiss of pain through her teeth. "Oh, Fi-Chan, I've been waiting to buy this LOVELY pottery for five minutes already!"

"I-I'm so sorry, Tarim-San!" She looked up at him with watered eyes. "I'll be right out to ring you up." The fat customer released a loud snort and return to the shop, not knowing that his appearance had triggered more chaos in the near future. Dusting her long dress skirt and placing the heavy pot back in its place, Filia quickly shoveled the broken pieces of the pottery into a trash bucket.

"Don't destroy any more merchandise or I WILL beat you into a pulp." She said to Xellos as she sprinted across the workshop.

"I understand," He paused slightly and looked at her before she left the room. "FI-CHAN." Filia's body came to a sudden halt. With her back still facing him, a twisted and disgusted expression overcame her face. Just the way he said her nickname… it was just so… so revolting. She looked over her shoulder and gave him the most murderously look she ever gave anyone, it actually made Xellos smile even greater.

"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT, NAMAGOMI."

"I'll stop when you start calling me by my name, Fi-Chan." It was a deadly show down. Filia continued to glare at him with ever angry pore in her body whilst he just smiled at her. But it was her who looked away first, due to the abundant of customers calling her name.

"I'LL BE RIGHT THERE SO SHUT UP BEFORE I BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY!" She barked and it immediately got quiet. Turning her deathly glare back at Xellos, she snarled when he stuck his playful tongue at her and wiggled it. "THIS IS NOT OVER, NAMAGOMI."

"I was hoping it wasn't." He giggled and watched her storm out. Even Xellos was confused. Usually, he'd tease because he enjoyed getting to people's heads and making them squirm. However with Filia, she fought back with more fire than he ever experienced with anybody else. He'd given up on her after acquiring Lina as his new plaything but after that unexplainable smile that showed on her face just moments earlier, Xellos couldn't stop himself from complimenting her. It wasn't a lie. He made a point to never lie, although keeping the entire truth from everyone was his specialty, this was no lie. He said the honest truth and complimented someone for the first time in his dull life. It made him slightly uncomfortable and tense. Emotions that he thought he had gotten rid of. He didn't like feeling those raw emotions since it reminded him of something horrible. Turning to his potter's wheel, Xellos stared at the early stages of his dildo vase and frowned. He's still human.

* * *

His horse was tied in front of the tavern. Watching from across the street from the blacksmith, Amelia knew that he was going to be inside for awhile and told the blacksmith that she will be back shortly.

"Hey, Grey." She went over to the female stallion and got a soft snort in response. Although her fur was tan, it was her grey eyes that made her acquire her dull name. Amelia brushed her fingers through the horse's mane and smiled when she nibbled her hand.

"Okay, okay," Giggling, Amelia reached behind her leather pouch and took out several carrots. "I won't tease you any longer." Just as she started to feed her, Zelgadiss was proceeding to leave the bar. He stopped the instant he saw her with his horse and jumped right back in.

"And welcome back, sir." Zangulas unenthusiastically greeted him. "Are you back to spread your sorrow and gloom again? Or should I get the sword ready for your departure of this world?"

"Shut the fuck up." Zelgadiss snarled and slowly, he peeked from between the tavern doors.

"I'm sorry I haven't been paying attention to you, Grey." She was talking to his horse. Zelgadiss got angry quick. She'd rather talk to a horse than him? "I'm upset with your foolish and immature owner." Foolish and immature? His back molars began to grind together. SHE'S THE ONE BEING FOOLISH AND IMMATURE! That's it! This has gone far too long! It needs to end now!

"And it's my fault." Amelia said suddenly and at this, Zelgadiss sink back into the tavern. "It's my fault that we're fighting like this." She lowered her eyes to her tense fingers as she fed the horse.

"But it's with good intentions, Grey." Amelia looked at the missing bracelet on her wrist. "I just want to be useful." She stopped talking for a little bit. Looking up at the nonchalant horse, Amelia slipped a soft giggle and trailed her fingers down the animal's snout.

"Can I tell you a little secret?" When she waved it's head side-to-side, Amelia's smile widen. "I'm a little scared of being a huntress." Gently rubbing the horse on the side of its face, her smile slowly disappeared.

"No, I'm not scared that I'm risking my life. I'm scared because…" She stopped moving her hand, her eyes on the ground. "I'm scared because if I can't find the criminal, he or she will continue to do terrible things and it will be my fault. And everyone will be awfully upset at me, especially Zelgadiss-San. He will think I'm not a very good huntress. Well, he already thinks so." A hesitant giggle released from her lips. Looking up at the horse's grey eyes, Amelia frowned.

"I wish he can believe in me." A smile spread on her face when Grey nudged her snout on her cheek and nibbled gently on her shoulder. "Thank you, Grey. I know that you believe in me." Giving her the last carrot in her pouch, Amelia patted the horse on the side of her athletic body.

"Watch over Zelgadiss-San for me. I know he's difficult to handle but don't forget that he's the reason why you're so well-groomed and healthy." Grey gave off a loud snort. "I know," Amelia smiled. "I love him too." One last pat on her side and Amelia quickly ran to the other side of the street. She gathered her order from the blacksmith and stepped outside. A sharp emotion stabbed in her chest when she saw Zelgadiss standing where she was just a while ago, stroking Grey's mane and with his back turned to her. Amelia watched him for a silent second before realizing that she was supposed to be mad at him and started to walk away.

* * *

A few days have passed since their arrival from Taforashia and Lina, looking at Gourry's happy smile, was disgusted of herself. Without returning one back, she got off the bed and walked to the bathroom where she would shower off their love-making sweat. It was usually a five minute rinse but lately, Gourry noticed, it's been longer. And there was also another thing. Gourry sat up against the bed frame and stared at the closed bathroom door. She always left the door open but for the past nights they've been sleeping together, she not only closed it but she also locked it too.

Curled at the bottom of the shower, Lina hugged herself under the rushing water with her face pressed against her wet arms. She needed to tell him. Not only because she didn't want to play Xellos's game, but it was killing her every single time he smiled at her. Every loving smile that spread across his face, Lina remembered the adulterous actions she contributed. But, how? How can she tell him? It was going to break his heart that she slept with someone else.

Releasing a soft breath of uncertainty, Lina carefully got up to her feet and turned the water off. She dried her body off and went to the bathroom door, only to stop. Beyond this door, Gourry is there to give her another aching smile and tell her something foolishly romantic. It was routine. Lina twisted the doorknob and walked out. And like routine, Gourry smiled at her, but before he could say the foolishly romantic line, Lina jumped into bed and closed the distance between their mouths. His eyes sprung open. He watched her as she kissed him lovingly and deeply. Eventually, he shut his eyes too and kissed her back.

"Can I ask you a question?" Shortly after their make-out session, laying side-by-side on the already tiny bed, Gourry had his arm draped over Lina's thin shoulders and was holding her against his ribs. He didn't bother to open his eyes and answered her with a soft sound from his throat.

"If I," Lina had her face pressed on his naked chest, her eyes lingered on her fingers drawing imaginary circles on the blanket covering their bodies. "Did something bad," She paused for a second time and swallowed a big wad of spit. "Would you still stay with me?"

"You're bad everyday-" A sudden pinch on his cheek made by her fingers made him chuckle uneasily. "I-I mean, it depends on how bad you were." Lina let go of his sore cheek and return to cuddling.

"What if I did something REALLY bad," Her hold on Gourry grew tighter. "Something so bad that it might affect our relationship?" First Gourry didn't answer. He just kept silent. It was only when Lina called his name did he let out a sigh of tiredness.

"I don't know, Lina." He mumbled through closed eyes. Turning his body fully to her, he wrapped both strong arms securely around her and buried his face in her mass of hair.

"But whatever you did… I'll always forgive you-" A loud yawn slipped out. "Because…" His lips smacked together and released a withering sigh. "We belong… together." Lina stared into the darkness that was between their bodies. A soft choking sound came from beneath her throat; she turned her head away to keep the water from spilling on his chest. All this time, she called him the idiot because of his lower intelligence but now, she has a legitimate reason. He's the idiot for wanting to be with her.

* * *

"Have a nice day at work, Daddy!" Amelia called as she ran down the stairs of her home. Not caring if her father shouted back at her or not, she grabbed her leather waist pouch and latched it on the back of her belt. With her fingerless gloves tightly on, Amelia Saillune was ready to serve justice! She greeted the butler when he opened the front door for her and joyously stepped out into the cool morning breeze. Doing a few twirls under the bright sun and her usual morning stretches, Amelia was about to practice her leg kicks when she heard someone clear his throat from behind. Leaning against the wall of her home, Zelgadiss stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. When she realized who it was, Amelia blocked the smile on her face and quickly turned around, she crossed her own arms and looked outward to the front yawn.

"Zelgadiss." She called him without his prefix again. "What are you-"

"Come with me." Not letting her finish, Zelgadiss walked past Amelia, only to stop when she didn't follow. He turned around to look at her. "Are you coming?"

"Where are we going?" She asked him instead. Slight irritation appeared on his face; he closed the gap between their bodies and snatched her wrist.

"H-Hey!" Amelia yelped when he began to drag her away from her home. He ignored her loud protests. As he pulled her through the front gates of her home, Amelia and Zelgadiss were too busy with each other to take notice of the lost teenager trying to catch their attention. The teen watched the silver-haired man drag the young lady away. In his eyes, it looked like the lady needed help but from his experience with city folk, the ladies aren't the ones in trouble, it was the men.


	14. Chapter 14 Second Removal

Chapter 14 - Second Removal

It was surreal. That was the only way he can describe it. Seeing all these people living and functioning without the help of the forest around their town, it was unheard of. People of various sizes were coexisting peacefully in such a way that Pokota never knew. A loud gasp left his lips when he saw two male children running after each other with wooden guns in their hands. L-Sama, Pokota thought, even the kids were carrying firearm! What uncivilized humans!

"This would explain why the flat-chest queen is such an abomination." He said to himself as he continued to watch the kids roll around the dirt in front of his feet. They stopped when they finally noticed him. Their innocent eyes widened to see the native looking down at them with a very alarmed expression on his face. Wearing tan animal hide and moccasins, Pokota had ditched the headdress that was bestowed upon him and carried a long flatbow that was just as tall as he was. Once he became Chief of Taforashia, Pokota was presented his dead father's prized bow that was carved out of one piece of wood and able to hit any target at any distance. He had the bow closely hung around his body like a shoulder bag and a collection of deadly arrows with Lithium stone tips and colorful bird feathers hung diagonally across his back. The kids looked at the two large black tomahawks that were present on his belt. Strapped without a casing around the blade, it glinted with deadly pride. Pokota noticed their sudden fascination with him; in fact, he noticed that folks around him were looking at him quite cautiously. Moving his long magenta hair off his shoulder, he stepped around the two kids and continued to walk with his proud chest puffed out.

* * *

Val paused immediately when he saw the strange teenager sitting next to Filia in her office. With a cup of warm tea in his rough paws, Pokota was staring intently at the tea's surface while speaking to Filia in a low voice. Val had seen him while giving flyers to the townspeople but he thought nothing of it since he sees an abundant of weird things in Saillune, for example Lina Inverse and her crew of weird hunters. Judging him only by his exterior, Val could tell that this kid had to be a few years younger than him and was obviously from another town. He saw the deadly native weapons on his body and pursed his lips out. What does this kid want with Filia? After a few seconds of staring at him, the savage finally took notice of him and stared back with vibrant unmoving green eyes. Filia looked up as well and let out an irritated noise at the sight of her son.

"What took you so long, Val?" Filia stood up abruptly from her chair and aggressively began piling food on an empty plate. "I told you, lunch was going to be ready before noon." Walking to the seat across from Pokota, Val slid his chair out and sat down heavily. He instantly set his eyes on the stranger. Pokota tensed up quickly and lowered his head, uncomfortably drinking his tea in front of him.

"Here, you stupid boy." Rudely shoving the plate of cold food in front of Val, Filia smiled when the other boy's stomach released a loud grumble. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you." And very politely, she placed his plate on the table and gave him a pat on his tiny shoulder.

"Thank you, Filia-San." The petite teenager said almost quietly and grabbed the utensils given to him.

"No, no." Filia sat back in her seat and refilled her empty cup with tea. "Just Filia." She giggled and Pokota blushed. He was always shy when it came to beautiful woman and Filia, he glanced at her smiling face again and the redness on his face grew hotter, is certainly the most beautiful woman that he has ever seen. Like someone who never used a fork in his life, Pokota stabbed his food and pulled it to the edge of the plate where his large open mouth was located. Watching amusingly, Filia smiled to see that this robot boy had absolutely no table manners. Val watched with disgust. He thought Lina and Gourry were the only power eaters around here but this kid was absolutely grotesque! Unable to eat anymore, Val pushed his half-eaten plate away.

"That was great!" Pokota announced happily, bits and pieces of food crumbs were attached around his lips. "You are a great cook, Filia! I bet the cooks at home aren't as good as you are!"

"You must've been starving." The hostess stirred her tea with a spoonful of honey. "Traveling between Taforashia and Saillune is a 5 hour journey on horse-back. I cannot imagine how long it would take to WALK through that hot sand."

"It wasn't long." Not bothering to ask, the improper teenager began to eat from Val's full plate.

"I see." Of course, Filia giggled, it wouldn't be long for a robot. While eating Val's plate, Pokota finally looked around the room that he was in. Unlike the houses that were made out of sculpted stones at Taforashia, houses in Saillune were made from thick wood.

"Saillune is completely different from home." He turned his head to his host. "At home, the women look nowhere near as pretty as you, Filia." When he realized what he had said aloud, Pokota quickly lowered his eyes with a really big blush.

"Oh, Pokota-Kun!" The long-haired beauty released a very arrogant laugh that made Val cringe. "How courteous of you to say such a flattering remark to a woman in her 30s!"

"It'd be nice if you really were in your 30s." Xellos snickered evilly. He stood behind Filia, leaning against the kitchen counter and nonchalantly looking over the ruby gem on his cane. Filia cleared her throat to prevent her voice from releasing her murderous shrill, she turned her head around and glared at him, but with an elegant smile.

"What are YOU doing here so soon? You are supposed to be helping Lina and Gourry this afternoon."

"I was until I heard the news." He walked over to the only empty seat on the table between Val and Pokota and sat down. "As an outstanding police inspector, it is my duty to ensure the safety of the townspeople from potential confrontations." Pokota stirred in his seat. He kept his eyes low while Xellos looked straight at him, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Val-"

"I know, I know!" Not allowed to join in on anything related to confrontation fun, Val left the kitchen to tend to the store with Filia's fat spoiled cat. Xellos continued to watch the nervous robot teen. With inescapable rainbow-shaped slit eyes, Pokota didn't have a clue where this play-actor was staring at. Slowly though, he moved his head and met with his cheerful expression. Neither of them spoke. During his walk to Saillune, Pokota greatly hoped that he would not see this man. Especially after Xellos's altercation with him in Taforashia, Pokota didn't want to come close to him at all. There was something about him that made Pokota very uncomfortable. It was Filia who rescued him from Xellos's long stare, in which his feelings for the pretty lady grew. She reached over and grabbed the police officer by his cheek, pulling him away from Pokota.

"Fi-Chan, that hurts-"

"Stop calling me by that name." She gave him a final tug and shoved him back to his chair. "And stop bothering my guest."

"I'm not bothering." Xellos rubbed his stretched cheek gently. "I'm just getting acquainted again." And he looked back at Pokota, making him shift awkwardly in his chair again. "Right, Pokota-San?"

"When is Lina coming back?" Instead of answering him, Pokota returned his eyes on Filia.

"She'll be back when she's hungry. Would you like thirds?"

"Yes please!" His childish glow reappeared and Filia giggled. As she made him another plate, Xellos watched her from behind. This woman knows that this child is a robot and yet, she is so gracious to it. This robot child can kill her in a second if it had a chance so why is she feeding it? When she placed a full plate of food in front of Pokota, Filia noticed Xellos looking at her. But the moment she fully turned her head towards him, he moved away. Almost like blocking a part of himself from her, it was the first time this haughty man turned from a challenge. A soft giggle slipped from her lips, she was proving to be a great opponent for this Namagomi. She was glad that she was getting in his head like he was to hers. Suddenly, she remembered the remark he whispered to her the day before. Almost immediately, Filia turned her head completely around and return to her duty as hostess. She did not want anyone to see the growing blush on her face especially the handsome man who was looking at her again. She had spent the entire night reliving that moment in her workshop and repeatedly reassured that Xellos was just teasing her. That was the kind of guy he is. He's cunning, devious, and intelligent. He'll play any game to get her to crack, just like the first time they met. Well, the blush on her face finally vanished and she twisted her body to smile upon the man behind her, two can play this game.

* * *

For as long as she knew him, she never thought he will give in. Looking upon the long table of various revolver-type weapons, Amelia grazed her fingertips against the closest weapon. Standing on one side of a wide clear field, at the other end was another table but with empty bottles as targets. The dark-haired beauty turned to look at the man who led her here.

"Every gun is different." Zelgadiss said with a very restraining voice, his back faced her since he didn't want her to see the disapproving expression on his face. "We're only going to decide which one is perfect for you today."

"Zelgadiss-San." When she finally said his name, and with the prefix, he just closed his eyes and the feeling of overwhelming joy filled the pit of his stomach. Her voice was certain crafted by angels. Closing the distance between them, Amelia laid her tiny hands on his back which made him fidget but he didn't move away. Placing her forehead on the square of his back, she slowly moved her hands along his ribs and stopped on his chest. Amelia hugged him tenderly from behind. It was her tender and soft hugs, not her spur-of-the-moment monster hugs that make his heart bounce and mind throb tremendously. And whenever he cups one of her hands, like he always do, an uncontrollable warm flush would hover on Amelia's skin. Zelgadiss lowered his eyes to stare at the uncovered tiny hand resting on his chest. Such perfectly made hands should not be allowed to carry a deadly burden.

"If I do this," He spoke softly. "I want you to promise that you'll only use it as a last resort." Amelia nudged her face to silently agree to the promise. She took a half step back so Zelgadiss could turn around to face her. He grabbed her hand again and placed it over his broad chest, above his thumping heart. Amelia did her best to stop her giggle but not her smile for it made her own heart sing to feel that his heart was bouncing around just like hers. He stared at her beautiful smile and knew he had to tell her how much he felt for her. The weight of knowing was too great on his heavy growing heart. It was literally pulling him so low to the ground that it was unbearable to look upon her face.

But when the wind picked up and rushed past their bodies, his long bangs moved off his face and in instinct, Zelgadiss let go of her hand and covered the right side of his face. The feel of his wax-like skin felt bothersome under his palm. Then, he remembered something tragic for there was a change in Amelia's priceless expression. A large frown replaced her bright smile and he could feel his soul breaking apart. His already heavy heart got heavier and ripped into smithereens. Did he really believe that he could have Amelia all to himself? What kind of a person is he to allow someone so precious touch him in a loving way? To hold him and kiss his lips like he was normal? Although her frown vanished almost immediately, Amelia recovered her large smile and pretending as if she didn't witness anything.

"There are so many revolvers here that I don't know where to start!" She turned away from him and hopped around the wooden table, her hands picked every revolver up and waved it around dangerously. Zelgadiss watched her foolishly play with the guns, even pointing it at him and making ridiculous children noises. Eventually, he smirked at her playfulness and lowered his hand from his face. Amelia told him a long time ago that she never understood why he felt so negative about his scars, she thought the burns made him look unique and, in her words, ultra tough. She also told him that it made her sad that he wouldn't let her see him and it always puts a frown on her face whenever he covered from her. Zelgadiss understood all this and yet, he continued because he was ashamed at his defectiveness and knew that he was not good enough for her love. A heavy sigh passed his lips as he watched the thief who stole his heart dance in front of him. Amelia will never be his to have.

* * *

Sitting next to a river that ran across the Saillune forest, the redhead rested her tired and overworked body while her partner sharpened his blade nearby. Running her fingers through her long red curls and stretching her slender legs forward, the Bandit Killer let out a loud sigh of relief and looked at her partner. She said something to him but he wasn't listening for his mind was on something else. Only when she began to shout, he abruptly interrupted with a sudden confession. Lina froze immediately whilst Gourry stayed silent, waiting patiently for her answer. In the back of her mind, she was mentally telling herself to say it back, except nothing came out of her lips. Meeting each other's eyes for a moment, he stared at her stunned expression and nudged his head forward, motioning her to answer. Nothing.

So he waited and stared at her paralyzed face, then saw her eyes alter before him. A hint of uncertainty began to flash in her emotionless gaze. He turned his body so he can really see. Grasping her face in both his hands, he gave her a light shake to wake her up from her spent state, and yet it didn't change anything. Moving his face close, the tips of their noses barely touched. He intently looked into her ruby orbs; they were wide with raw lament. His brows curled in the middle, he was puzzled at her strange and tense behavior. He thought she would be ecstatic to hear those words for the first time and would quickly share it back but instead, she was looking at him with what looked like rejection.

They didn't hear him since they were so engrossed with each other but when they did; the end of the large barrel was already pointed directly at them. Standing a few feet away from them was the criminal Seigram. He had followed them to Saillune. Lina and Gourry froze at the sight of the robot. Despite the loss of his arm that held his Gatling gun, he was standing before them with a long blade, replacing his lost arm. The blade was sharp and black, quickly identifying itself as used lithium. His raspy harsh voice chuckled as he pulled back the hammer of the platinum-made Magnum revolver in his other hand.

"Did you miss me?" In a quick second, Gourry separated from Lina and lunged at his sword that laid a foot away while Lina retrieved her revolver from her holster. Like lightening, Seigram shot a bullet at Lina's hand, accurately shooting her gun off her fingers, and another one next to Gourry's blade, instantly stopping him.

"You have to be quicker than that." The crude robot snickered behind his stone mask. Forcing the hunters to their feet, he positioned them next to each other while keeping his gun directed at them.

"I must say," Lina looked over his new arm. "I like the new addition, Seigram. Let me guess, the HGM was too big to make the cut?" Twisting his body, Seigram's black cloak flew off and revealed a fully bandaged body. There were two fully automatic machine guns strapped around both his shoulders with two link belts wrapping his waist. And accompanying him this time, he had multiple grenades tucked into the torn bandages on his body. A nervous sweat dripped from Lina's brow. The grenades were unrecognizable and it made her very nervous. Closing the gap between him and Gourry, Seigram took the swordsman by the wrist and grabbed a grenade from his body. Making him grasp the short-fused bomb and holding the striker lever down, Seigram did the unthinkable and pulled the safety pin out.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Lina took a step forward but came face-to-face with the end of Seigram's Magnum.

"This is unlike the grenades you know." His glowing red eyes stared down at her. "The explosive material in each of the grenades is filled with lithium based blast powder. Protected with a thin cast iron shell, there is a two seconds time delay unlike the usual six seconds." Lowering his covered face to just an inch from Lina, she grimaced to breath into a horrible decaying perfume that discharged from his mask.

"The moment he lets go of that trigger, he wouldn't know what to do with the last two seconds of his life."

"I'll just throw it-"

"Oh, yes, you can throw it." The criminal continued to stare upon Lina's deathly expression. "But the blast will be so large that any matter within a 2 mile radius of it will be sucked into its explosion and will not survive." Tilting his head to the side, Seigram leaned closer to get a better look of Lina's face.

"Aren't we just a few minutes away from the town of Saillune?" She winced at his question. "If your partner lets go of the trigger, he will successfully murder thousands of innocent families with children." Seigram released a heavy chuckle when Lina turned her head away.

"Is that what you want, Lina Inverse?"

"Lina?" Gourry called her name in a concern tone when Lina remained silent for a few seconds. "What do you want me to do?" True, if Gourry were to let go of the lever and tossed it to Seigram, the robot would be dead. But, so will they and possibly, half the civilization of Saillune. That is, if Seigram was telling the truth. Not willing to debate on innocent lives, Lina looked back at Seigram.

"What do you want?"

"I want the boy." Seigram's voice rattled with anger.

"Boy?" Her eyebrows curled. "What boy?"

"Don't LIE to me, Lina Inverse." With a hard shove, Seigram grinded the end of his long revolver into her belly, making her curl forward. "I FOLLOWED that boy into Saillune. He's in that shop with the woman with long golden hair." The mention of Filia made the two hunters' eyes widen.

"I want you to bring him to me or-" Swinging his sword-arm around his body, it stopped just inches from Gourry's neck. "I will kill your partner and he will blow half of your precious town into nothingness."

* * *

The moment she walked into the shop, Lina kept her eyes to the floor as Val rudely greeted her. When she didn't say anything, the teen made a comment about her laziness and still, she said nothing. He quickly gave up on her when a customer asked for his service. Lina slowly went to the back of the two-level home where Filia and Pokota was still conversing with each other and Xellos drank his cup of tea in silence next to them.

"Here she is, Pokota." Filia clapped her hands when the redhead entered the kitchen. The native turned in his chair and smiled at her, his arms crossed over his chest with arrogance.

"Happy to see me, Flatness?" He insulted right away. Lina stared at the robotic child. With all her attention on him, she didn't bother with Xellos and Filia's loud argument. Suddenly, Lina grabbed Pokota by his leather war shirt and shoved him aggressively against the table.

"WHY DID YOU COME HERE?" She snarled with angry eyes. Pokota squirmed under her but she kept him pinned onto the wooden table.

"Get off of him immediately, Lina!" Filia shouted but Lina ignored her and bumped her forehead against his.

"ANSWER ME. WHY DID YOU COME HERE?" Unable to say anything because he was too surprised, Filia was finally able to get Lina off him and shoved the petite woman to the wall.

"What is the MATTER with you, Lina?"

"Did you know that Seigram followed you here?" Lina asked and Pokota nodded hesitantly.

"I-I knew but I lost him in a sand storm. How do you-"

"He's here and he has Gourry." She removed Filia's hands off and walked straight to Pokota. "And a grenade that can blow up half of Saillune." Filia gasped while Xellos just kept staring at his lukewarm tea, stirring it slowly with a spoon.

"He said that if we don't give him the robot, he's going to kill Gourry and Gourry is going to trigger the bomb." Lina said with such disgust and stepped past Pokota, unable to look at him in the eye. "You should have STAYED in Taforashia." She remarked while pacing in the kitchen.

"Are you going to hand me over?" Pokota asked and Lina kept silent. She just continued to pace around. "WELL, ARE YOU?"

"I'M THINKING ABOUT IT." She finally admitted. "Seigram has Gourry and an explosive that can kill more than half of Saillune." Lina grabbed a chair from around the table and sat down heavily, her angry eyes moved to her fingers instead of at him. "If I don't turn you in, he's going to kill us all-"

"If you give him what he wants, then you're never going to find the location of the Lithium caves." Pokota suddenly blurted and this made Xellos look up from his tea.

"YOU know the location of the Lithium caves?" The redhead asked and Pokota hesitantly nodded.

"My father's last words to me were the location of a map that was hidden away in our settlement. He told me to study it and burn it so no other being will get their greedy hands upon it." He nibbled on his lower lip and looked at Lina's surprised expression.

"He told me to come to you afterwards because… he knew that you're the only one who can stop the war." The three adults stared at the young robot. It was either save Gourry and Saillune or stop a takeover from ever happening.

* * *

There she was, walking towards them with Pokota at her heel. Seigram turned his body to face the two, but kept his sword pressed against Gourry's neck. They stopped the instant Seigram spotted them. Still grasping the grenade in his hands, Lina could tell that Gourry was close to letting it go. She could see the beads of sweat that collected on his brow and his hands were shaking from holding such a tiny bomb for a timely matter.

"I have the boy." Lina announced and thrust Pokota forward; he managed to catch himself from falling to the ground. "Now, get rid of the grenade and unhand Gourry."

"First," The raspy-voiced robot spoke. "I want to know what he knows."

"That wasn't part of the trade-off."

"It is now if you want your precious swordsman to live." With a sudden whip of his sword, he slapped Gourry on the face using the side of his blade. Lina screamed out his name when Gourry fell to his knees. He panted heavily and painfully showed her that he still held the grenade with the lever down, a weak smile appearing on his face. She breathed easily and looked upon Seigram, who was walking over to Pokota now. Aiming the end of the Magnum at the middle of his face, the native patiently waited for him. He continued walking over until he saw a small smile slip on Pokota's lips. Seigram stopped in mid-stride and noticed something irregular in a far distance; he turned his head to it.

Filia grinned from behind the crosshairs of her shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Resembling a pump-action shotgun, she pulled the trigger and twisting from the end of the barrel; a deadly warhead shot out and targeted it at Seigram. Bracing the bullet, the warhead exploded on impact and sent the already broken robot into the air. His body was tossed against a large tree and tussled to the ground in a matter of seconds. Pokota slid across the ground to where Gourry was crouched.

"Give it to me!" He grasped Gourry's hand which carried the deadly bomb and carefully, he transferred it over to Pokota. Lina was already loading up her Dragon Slave; she walked over to the enemy and aimed it at the back of his bandaged head.

"He's not dead, yet."

"That was a direct hit." Coming from behind, Filia held her grenade launcher by her shoulder and stopped next to Lina. "There is no way he could've survived that." She took back her words immediately when Seigram suddenly lifted himself off the dirt and pointed his Magnum between her eyes.

"You better watch where you are pointing that." Her Dragon Slave positioned next to Seigram's right ear. The glowing red lights that resembled his eyes moved and stared upon the abnormally large single-barrel revolver. Slowly but surely, he dropped the revolver to his side, freeing Filia. Lina's thin lips curled.

"Now, YOU are going to tell me everything you know."

"Have you ever considered the dire consequences if you kill me, Lina Inverse?" Seigram's gravelly voice spoke from beneath the mask.

"What dire consequences?" And that's when Pokota untied the cloth from around Gourry's mouth. Sitting inside of his mouth, there was a grenade and with its safety pin pulled out. Except, unlike the other grenades, the one lodged into his mouth had a timer and there was only 7 minutes and a half seconds left.

"Lina!" Pokota called. "There's a bomb in Gourry's mouth and its going to go off in 7 minutes 29 seconds and counting!"

"WHAT?" Lina and Filia yelped instantly. Getting up from the ground with Pokota, Gourry pointed at the weaponry with panic.

"He must've put it in when you left!"

"Spit it out, Gourry!" But Gourry shook his head. Motioning to the grenade in Pokota's hand and to the one in his mouth, he made large movements in his hand implying that it was identical.

"That's right." A soft chuckle came from Seigram's mask, his glowing eyes rose slightly with every chuckle. "If he spits it out, the bomb will go off in two seconds and will activate the grenade in the boy's hands. But in 7 minutes, it will go off anyway even without being triggered."

"TELL ME." Lina shoved her revolver against the side of his head. "TELL ME HOW TO STOP IT."

"Give me the boy and I'll tell you." He moved his head to look upon the small teenager next to Gourry. Pokota noticed and took a step backward; he glanced between Lina and Filia's frustrated and apprehensive expressions. If he doesn't go with Seigram, they will all die. Looking down at the grenade in his hand, Pokota's brows curled. He doesn't want anybody to die because of him. He came to Saillune so people WON'T die. But, if he goes with Seigram, he will murder him and honestly, he didn't come to Saillune to die either. Suddenly, Pokota lifted his head when a soft chuckle left Lina's mouth.

"And what if I don't give him to you?" Still holding the large revolver to the robot's head, Lina pulled the locking mechanism on her ultimate weapon, her pointer finger wrapped around the trigger and made ready for her next move.

"You would let precious living beings die for a robot child who has no heart?"

"Why not?" Pokota's eyes widen at Lina's remark. "We're all going to die someday, right? Besides," Lina smiled with such arrogance. "When that explosion goes off, the only resource to the location of the Lithium cave will be gone and this war will be over."

"This war will never be over." Seigram growled. "As long as there are robots, this war will NEVER be OVER!" He grinded his head against the end of Lina's barrel, tempting her to blow his head away. "HUMANS ARE INSIGNIFICANT BEINGS WHO DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! IT IS INEVITABLE OF THE OUTCOME OF THIS WAR! HUMANS WILL BE GONE-"

"If I tell you what I know," Pokota suddenly interrupted and Seigram went silent. "Will you stop the bomb from going off?"

"Yes." Seigram hissed. Taking a big step forward, Pokota began walking over. Seigram's words had worked and Pokota decided to sacrifice himself.

"Pokota, what are you…"

"I don't want anybody to die because of me." He said as he past Filia.

"Everyone is going to die eventually but if you give yourself up, human beings will cease to exist and these murderous things will take over the planet! Stop acting like a child and start thinking with your head-"

"JUST LET ME DO THIS!" Pokota snapped at Lina, shutting her up instantly. Taking a deep breath, the teenager looked up at the redhead with intense green eyes. "I don't... I don't want people to die."

"Po… Pokota." Shoving past her, Pokota stopped in front of Seigram and looked up at his glowing eyes. Chuckling from behind the stone mask, the bandaged being motioned him to come closer and just when he was going to take a step forward, a long thin cane shoved between their bodies and pushed the teen back.

"Now, let's not be hasty, Pokota-San." Seemingly appearing out of thin air, standing next to them was police investigator Xellos. "Sacrificing yourself will not stop the end of humanity." With the same smile on his face, Xellos turned his head to the left and stared upon the already shaking robot next to him.

"For it has already begun, hasn't it, Seigram-San?"

"What are YOU doing here?" Though his voice was raspy, it was never quivery like it was now.

"Following orders." Xellos joyfully told him and shoved the brave robot child to the ground. Seigram leaped backwards in the air, he reached for the two heavy machine guns on his sides and blasted rapid bullets at the snickering police officer. Miraculously dodging the fast rounds by sprinting straight at him, Xellos unlocked the handle of his solid thin cane and pulled a hidden stiletto sword from within. Whilst Filia gathered Pokota, Lina watched the two men swing their swords at each other. Judging from the wide smirk on Xellos's face, it was clear that he was enjoying it and winning.

"His sword…" Her eyebrows curled. Swinging his thin cane-sword nearly an inch away from Seigram's neck, Lina identified it as finely sharpened tungsten with a diamond-based end. It was unlike the steel blade that Gourry carried or any sword she seen before. Seigram released a screech when Xellos stabbed him into the pit of his stomach, screaming like it was burning him alive. Xellos forced his blade deeper into him until it came out the other side and with a twist of his grip; he sliced the robot's body in half. The body parts dropped onto the pile of dead leaves on the ground, immense flow of blood poured and splattered lightly on Xellos's pale skin. Ignoring Seigram's death defying screams, Xellos calmly turned around and walked directly where Filia had Pokota safely in her arms. Making no notion with Lina when he walked past her, Lina kept both widen eyes on him. He spoke when he knelt in front of Filia and Pokota.

"May I have that please?" He motioned to the grenade that Pokota held in his shaking hands. Not answering him, Pokota just nodded. In a careful transaction, Xellos held the weapon of destruction in his hand. He looked it over and smirked. Filia and Pokota jumped to see his fingers jabbed into the grenade and in an instant, squeezed it easily like it was made out of aluminum. Other than the black smoke which the active Lithium crystals released, there was no explosion.

"How… How did you do that?" Filia questioned as Xellos dumped the tightly squeezed balloon to the dirt and went over to the speechless swordsman. He said nothing and successfully got rid of the bomb in Gourry's mouth.

"T-Thanks." Gourry sighed in relief and massaged his tense jaw gently. But Xellos was already walking away. He walked past the redhead again without any say and came to Seigram's dying side. When he spotted Xellos, Seigram tried to reach for his Magnum that was just a few inches from his fingers. Xellos pulled out his own revolver from his shoulder holster and released two loud rounds into Seigram's chest, making him cry out.

"WHY?" Turning his trembling head to Xellos, the robot pathetically cried. "WHY DO YOU GO AGAINST YOUR ROBOT BROTHER, XELLOS?" Lina, Filia, Gourry, and Pokota swerved their heads immediately at the purple-haired man. Xellos sighed, his back still turned toward the four. He looked down at his jacket that was stained with Seigram's thick blood and gently brushed it off with his gloves.

"You were taking too long with your orders, Seigram-San. I had no choice but to take over your mission." The eyes of the hunters grew. "You know how impatient he is-"

"I WOULD'VE GOTTEN THE LOCATION OF THE LITHIUM IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR FOOLISH INTERFERENCE!" His gravelly voice roared at Xellos. As he continued to scream at him, Xellos reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a very familiar cone-like dagger.

"YOU'RE ORDERS WERE TO DESTROY THE BANDIT KILLER, NOT TO BEFRIEND HER! YOU ARE A TRAITOR AMONGST OUR RACE-" Breaking the stone mask that hid his face, the dagger was shoved harshly into Seigram's burned-off mouth to shut him up.

"The only traitor here is you, Seigram-San." Xellos murderously replied next to his face. "He knows of your association with HIM." Seigram's glowing red eyes grew tiny.

"Did you really think he sent me all the way here so I can get rid of a woman? No, he sent me here so I can exterminate a RAT." Pushing the button that was located on the bottom of the cone, a soft beeping went off and tasteless cool liquid began to splash all over Seigram, just like it did with Kanzel. Xellos moved away from the pathetic robot and smiled handsomely.

Spitting the cone out of his mouth, Seigram released a slaughtering screech at the purple-haired man before the blast from the dagger went off and was soon enveloped in black fire. The four stood apart, watching Xellos as he stared at the moving flames that covered Seigram. The sweat collected in Lina's palms intensified at that moment. Xellos is one of them. Before the thought of raising her Dragon Slave to the bastard, Xellos had already turned around to face them.

"Now," He cheerfully chuckled. "Who would like to die next?"


	15. Chapter 15 Damaged Emotions

Chapter 15 - Damaged Emotions

Seigram had stopped screaming but none of them moved. The four stood apart, not knowing what to say or do. They just stared at the merciless being in front of them. Patting the collected blood off his jacket with his gloved fingertips, Xellos waited patiently. It was Filia who was brave enough to speak and when she did, her voice was failing and the grip she had on Pokota's shoulders was tighter than ever.

"You're one of them…" She tried to keep her voice calm but it still quivered at the end. He stopped stroking his suit and lifted his head. Filia released a shaking breath, her face twisted in confusion and horror. "You're… You're a robot." Her frightened expression made Xellos uncomfortable. His stomach churned when she moved her head away. She didn't want to look at him and for some reason, it troubled him. He got the attention of Gourry's blade when he took a step forward.

"Don't take another step forward." Gourry stepped in between him and Filia, his double-edge sword set in front of him. Xellos did not flinch. He stared at Gourry and back at Filia, in which she still refused to look at him. He only looked away when he heard Lina sigh next to him. She had put her Dragon Slave back into its holster and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Now I understand why those girls didn't trust me." The redhead chuckled slightly and eyed Xellos. "They recognized you, didn't they? And you brutally murdered them, didn't you, Xellos?"

"My orders were to kill the robot traitor, Seigram." Xellos shrugged his shoulders a little. "To accomplish my orders, their sacrifices were necessary-"

"YOU MURDERED 6 INNOCENT GIRLS-"

"I executed 5 outlaws whom were wanted for associations with the highest wanted criminal, Milgazia, in Kataart." He corrected Lina immediately.

"Their deaths made no difference to your orders-"

"But then, how would I ever get your cooperation and trust, Lina-San?" Xellos sighed with a smirk. She cringed at his response.

"You bastard."Lina cursed beneath her breath, making the purple haired man snicker. "You had us believe that we could trust you. You framed Seigram for the murders and followed us to Taforashia so you can get information from the Head Chief and in the end, all you wanted was the location to the Lithium mines."

"Pops…" Pokota's eyes trembled in his sockets. "I… I left you alone with my father… And when I came back, he was…" Panting heavily, his hands tightened into fists. "You… You killed my father."

"Taforashia was already on his last breath." Xellos snorted. "I just made the process quicker."

"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" The robot child screamed. He twisted out of Filia's hold and rushed at Xellos with his tomahawk in his hand.

"POKOTA, NO!" Lina failed to grab him. He zipped past her and jumped in the air to strike Xellos. But Xellos was faster. He dodged the black blade and grabbed Pokota by his neck, holding him in the air. Pokota waved his wild arms and legs to get any leverage but Xellos tighten his hold, squeezing his neck so tight that it was about to snap in half.

"Yes, I killed your father." Xellos stared at him viciously. "He refused to give me any information until I threatened to kill you. Foolish old man told me everything I needed to know and in his last dying breath, he told me to spare your life.

"Tell me." He lowered his head just so there was only an inch between their faces. "Did you believe your father when he said he loved you?" Pokota's body stopped moving. "Or did you believe your father when he said he loved his son?"

"Let him go," Lina pressed her revolver against Xellos's head. "Or I will not hesitate to kill you." Xellos kept his eyes upon Pokota's trembling expression, his lips unmoving as he held Pokota dangling in front of him. He finally dropped him when Lina pulled back the hammer of her revolver and shoved the end of the barrel to his skull. Filia quickly rushed over and grabbed the shaking child from the ground, holding him close to her chest as he tried hard to stop the tears.

"Pathetic." Xellos scoffed loudly as Pokota desperately hide his wet face in Filia's clothes. He turned his head around and faced the end of Lina's gun. They stared at each other for a short intense second. "Are you going to shoot me or not? I'm waiting."

"Asshole." She snorted at the condescending man. "First, you are going to tell me what your next set of orders is and then, if you're a good boy, I'll let you die quickly."

"My commitments will not permit me to expose my main objective-"

"If you don't want to die – you WILL tell me." The revolver slammed against his forehead.

"I guess I have no choice." Xellos chuckled and in a sudden twist of his body, he slapped the revolver out of Lina's hand and launched a kick into her stomach, sending her to the ground. The blonde swordsman charged at him but Xellos countered his blade with his own, they stood in front of each other with their swords grinding against each other.

"You slaughter innocent lives." Gourry glared at the smiling man. "What kind of a monster are you?"

"In this case, it depends on Pokota-San."

"What do you want from him?" Filia wrapped her arms tighter around the robot child.

"Pokota-San is going to accompany me to the West, where my superior would like to have a word with him." He moved his eyes to Pokota, who had stopped crying and was looking at him. "If you disagree, you will be responsible of the destruction of Saillune –"

"Not in your life, pal!" Reaching behind her, Lina swiped a handful of red daggers and accurately threw it at Xellos. He easily dodged it just by shifting side-to-side. Gourry took this advantage to release the hold on their swords and charge at him again where Xellos ducked away from his blade and began crossing swords with him.

"Filia," Lina shoved Filia and Pokota away. "Take Pokota and leave Saillune."

"But I can fight-"

"The one he wants is you!" Lina snapped at Pokota suddenly. "You need to survive in order for humanity to live!" She took his shoulders and shook him, but he kept shaking his head.

"We must do what Lina says, Pokota." Filia picked her grenade launcher from the ground. "It is you who must survive."

"But…" He turned his head to where Gourry and Xellos were fighting. His eyes widen when Gourry's steel blade was suddenly broken in half. Xellos's blade cut through Gourry's chainmail torso guard made out of titanium, the diamond tip ran against his tough skin and left a long string of blood.

"I SAID, GO!" Lina screamed. By persuasion of Filia's powerful yank at his wrist, Pokota made a quick run for it. When he left the premises, Lina turned to face her enemy. She knew that she wouldn't be able to defeat this monster but, maybe, she can slow him down enough for Pokota to run away. Standing over Gourry, Xellos had his blade pointing downwards, the tip pressed against his neck. A trickle of blood leaked from the slice that Xellos made on Gourry's jaw, he chuckled to see Gourry's brave stare down. He moved off him when Lina released rapid rounds from her triple-barrel revolver. Running in zigzags to dodge her bullets, Xellos was eventually next to Lina and had her by the throat.

"Lina!" Gourry screamed for her and cringed at the open wound on his belly.

"Did you hear that?" The purple-haired man whispered into Lina's ear, he moved close to her body that she could feel his breath splashing against her skin. "The love of your life is calling for you."

"S-Shut… up." She choked for air. Xellos smirked and looked over his shoulder at Gourry.

"Did you tell him about our secret?" He asked, making Lina's eyes widen suddenly. Xellos watched Gourry reach for his broken sword and used it as leverage to get on his feet.

"No… stop." Lina whimpered. "Don't."

"Oh, so you didn't tell him?" Xellos's voice grew louder. Just when Gourry got on his feet, he noticed Xellos holding his Lina close to his body and his skinny twine of anger strengthen.

"Let go of her!" He shouted.

"I'm surprised, Lina-San. I thought you would be honest with Gourry-San but I was wrong, and I am rarely wrong." Xellos loudly mentioned and Gourry curled his eyebrows in result.

"Honest?" He repeated softly. Lina's panting got heavier now, she slammed her hands against Xellos's tight hold around her neck but it was useless – the tiny space of air that he was allowing her to use was not enough to sustain her punches. She was soon limbless and sucking any air that was given to her. Xellos smiled at Gourry and moved Lina's face closer to his, tilting his head in the process. Gourry's skin turned white and bumpy when Xellos pressed his lips against Lina's mouth. He dropped to a knee and watched a robot passionately kiss the love of his life. Lina was weak of oxygen to fight him off but was able to release a stream of water from her eyes. They kissed for just a little while until Gourry finally came to his senses and threw his broken sword at Xellos. He missed but it did make Xellos separate from Lina.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" He screamed murderously. Every inch of his body, filled with determined execution and hatred, was quickly losing control. Gourry screamed again, but this time it was for the betrayal – the unfaithfulness that Lina given to him. A scream that he never thought he would make. Xellos smiled at his hopelessness and dropped the redhead to the ground, where she coughed aloud and held her sore throat.

"You… You cold hearted bastard." Lina trembled, her tears unable to stop. Xellos ignored her and scanned the wilderness around him. Using his precise sight, he was able to make out the frames of Filia and Pokota. Without taking another look at her, Xellos went off running after the two fleeing, leaving Lina to face Gourry's bleak mood. But they didn't say one thing to each other or look at one another. They kept their mouths shut and their eyes to the ground. Silent tears flooded her face while Gourry refused to give up anymore emotions for someone who lied to him.

* * *

Filia shoved Pokota behind her. Xellos had caught up to them just when they got back to the shop. Val sat behind the shop's register, reading a book silently as Xellos and Filia stood in front of him, facing each other. The green-haired teenager flipped a page in his book and sighed, he finally looked up.

"If you two are going to stand there for the next hour, can I leave?" When they didn't say anything, Val decided to hang up his apron and go up to his room, leaving them alone. Filia could make out the iron weapons placed against the wall. If she is quick enough, she can perhaps launch it to the Namagomi's noggin and pummel him to the ground, allowing Pokota to flee without her. But when Filia turned her foot to ready herself, Xellos quick draw his revolver from his holster and shot a round next to her foot.

"I'm faster." He read her mind. Filia flinched. They were caught.

"Now," Xellos looked at Pokota who was looking from behind Filia. "I don't want to be rude and force you to come with me so let me try to persuade you to accompany me to the west." Then he pulled the hammer on his gun back and aimed at him. "I'm going to kill everyone in Saillune and if that doesn't change your mind, I will migrate to your homeland and murder every man, woman, and child in front of your eyes. And believe me; any person who crosses me do not leave this world pleasantly."

"You bastard." Filia whispered coldly while Pokota kept quiet. Xellos chuckled and nudged the end of his revolver.

"So, what will it be, Pokota-San?" When he said nothing, Xellos sighed. "Must I start with your little crush here?" He turned his revolver upon Filia, whom snorted bravely.

"No! Don't!" Pokota quickly went around Filia and drew his arms out to the side. "Don't, please!"

"Pokota, don't-"

"Don't kill Filia!" He shouted and stayed between Xellos's revolver and Filia.

"Don't?" Xellos raised his eyebrow. "What does 'don't' mean?"

"It means…" Hesitant, Pokota hung his head low and dropped his arms. "I'll… I'll come with you."

"Splendid!" The cheery man quickly announced. "A fine decision-"

"But my friends are going to come with us." Pokota quickly told him. There was a sudden change on his expression but Xellos immediately brought back a smile.

"Of course. There is no reason to travel light." And shoved his gun into its holster.

* * *

Zelgadiss and Amelia packed several preserved cans and salted meat onto the side of four horses. It was decided that Xellos and Pokota was leaving that evening with Lina and Gourry accompanying them but-

"NO." Filia stood behind her kitchen counter, preparing the last pack of food. "I AM NOT GOING. I REFUSE TO GO."

"We need you, Filia." Behind her, Lina and Pokota were ready to leave, each wearing heavy coats to keep them warm at night.

"WHY do you need ME?" The tall beauty scoffed loudly. "I retired from hunting and I am currently busy with tending to the shop-"

"Amelia and I can take care of the shop, Filia." Val walked into the kitchen. "We practically run the shop anyways."

"I am busy taking care of this stupid boy-"

"Zelgadiss is staying back. He can watch over your stupid boy for you." Val quickly responded.

"I am busy taking care of the missions-"

"Zelgadiss and Amelia are bounty hunters. They can run the business." Her son was on his game today.

"I am… I am busy!"

"What are you busy with? Keeping your cat fat?" Val sarcastically remarked making the white fat cat snort on top of the kitchen table.

"LOOK." She turned to face the teenager. "I AM NOT GOING. AND WHY ARE YOU SO DETERMINED TO MAKE ME LEAVE?"

"It's peaceful without you here." He truthfully said and dodging the fact that without her there, he was able to join Zel and Amelia with the bounty hunts. Filia gave Val a long mean look making him truly uncomfortable and leave. When he left, Filia snapped at Lina and Pokota.

"I AM NOT GOING. YOU CANNOT MAKE ME."

"Is that so?" Standing at the doorway, Xellos smiled with his cane tapping on the hardwood floors. Everyone in the room took a step back, except for Filia, she bravely looked at Xellos. "Is there a reason why you do not want to join us, Filia-San?"

"Yes, there is." She snorted. "You."

"Now, Filia-San, I cannot change what I am." He stepped into the kitchen and walked to her. She turned her head away and return to stirring her soup. "But, what if I told you that I can change?"

"Then I'll tell you that you are lying."

"You know me very well." Xellos chuckled and leaned against the stove, looking at Filia with a handsome smile. She continued to keep her eyes low and away.

"Then, what if I told you that I know what really happened on that day you found your son?" Filia immediately stopped stirring. She looked up at him with wide eyes. Taking the ladle from her hand, Xellos continued the stirring for her.

"What if I told you that I know who murdered his biological parents and the rest of the townsfolk?" The anxious feeling deep in Filia's belly trembled. She watched this violent man tease her.

"And what if," His violet eyes slowly opened. "I told you that I know exactly who framed you for those murders and where he is?" She held her breath. Filia's clenched fists shook at her sides.

"You… know who?" Her voice shook in suspended anger.

"Depends," Xellos scooped some soup in the ladle and blew at it. He tasted the fluid and licked his lips generously. "On whether or not you would like to learn the truth." Giving the ladle back, he walked away from the stove and stopped next to Pokota. Xellos watched Filia as she stood frozen behind the stove, ignoring her boiling soup. He smirked when Filia turned her stove off and muttered softly that she will be ready in a few minutes.

"You, me, Filia-San, and Lina-San," Xellos said aloud as Filia left the kitchen. "That makes 4."

"What about Gourry?" Pokota asked.

"He's not coming." Xellos and Pokota turned their heads just in time to see the back of Lina's head leaving the kitchen to the rooms upstairs. The redhead ran up the stairs and across the hallway to Gourry's bedroom. The door was open but she stopped outside, looking into the room. Standing in front of his bedroom window, Gourry was staring through the clear glass with his forehead pressed against the window still. He did not stir when Lina walked into the room. She stopped a few feet behind him. He was wearing the same clothes that he wore that morning; his stomach wound was still open and bleeding tremendously.

"Gourry…" Lina called him but he didn't answer back. "You're not packed yet. We're… We're leaving soon, you should get ready-"

"I'm not going." He finally spoke to her but not in his gentle voice.

"Why-"

"I'm not going." He repeated. Lina swallowed a brave wad of spit and took a step towards him.

"Gourry, I-"

"Back in the forest, when I told you that I loved you, why didn't you say anything?" Gourry asked. Lina stared at the back of Gourry's hair, her mouth open and trembling. Eventually she closed her lips and looked down at the floor. She was unable to say anything again.

"You didn't say anything. Why?" He was asking a question that was hard to answer. Lina kept her eyes low and her shaking hands tucked behind her back.

"B-Because…" She tried to think of something to say. "B-Because it's you, Gourry…"

"What about me?" The way he was talking to her, it was unlike him and it scared her.

"I…" Lina lifted her head and met with Gourry's emotionless face. They were finally looking at each other and Lina didn't like it. The glowing emotion that was always on his face was gone and it was because of her, she made it gone. "I don't… I don't know why."

"Why then," He fully turned his body to face her. "Why did you do it? Were you unhappy with me?"

"N-No, I-"

"Were you unsatisfied?"

"No! I was just-"

"Why then, Lina?" The space between them was gone and Gourry was holding Lina by her shoulders, shaking the answers out of her. "Why did you lie to me?"

"G-Gourry… I…" Lina wanted to look away from his sorrowful eyes but he wasn't letting her. The only thing that she could come up with was an apology. "I'm sorry…" Gourry stared at her rolling tears and unhanded her slowly. He reached into his pocket and took out a black satin sack. Lina watched him untie the sack and open it in front of her. He tipped the mouth to the palm of his hand and the most beautiful engagement ring that Lina ever saw in her life tumbled out. It looked as if the tiny crystal gems imbedded in the gold band were glowing and the large diamond shaped heart looked amazingly magical. They stared at the band like it was a disease. Gourry grabbed Lina's wrist and placed the ring in her hand.

"I don't want it." He simply told her. "I don't want it because I don't want to love you, anymore." The harsh words left Gourry's lips and attacked Lina's heart. She felt it crack in half and fall to the endless pit of her stomach, getting lost forever. Gourry turned away from Lina and walked to the window where he pressed his forehead against the glass and return to watching the people walk past.

* * *

Amelia stood in the middle of the dirt road, watching the four ride their horses away. She kept her eyes on the back of the redhead, who told her that she slept with Xellos and Gourry found out just minutes ago. Talking to her in the back of the shop, Lina showed Amelia the engagement ring that Gourry gave her and told her that she didn't know what to do. Amelia listened as Lina told her that it was on impulse and she regretted it. Then, before getting on her horse, Lina asked Amelia to do something for her.

"Anything, Lina-San." Amelia caressed the back of Lina's hand.

"Can you… Can you tell Gourry that I'm sorry?"

"I think Gourry-San has heard that enough-"

"I don't care. Just keep telling him."

"Okay, Lina-San." And so Amelia promised. Now, watching Lina follow the rest of the group, Amelia realized how love can affect someone so much in a good and bad approach. Lina Inverse, who is the most feared woman in the entire East and whose reputation spans across the world, was finally defeated by the same emotion that was fueling Amelia to be her best.

"Amelia." Amelia turned around to face Zelgadiss, who was waving a handful of files. "I need to apprehend the last of the fugitives and since Val has no background in hunting," He paused for a second to tell himself that he has no choice. "I need your help."

"Can Amelia-Chan carry a gun?"

"No, Amelia-Chan is holding the files while Zelgadiss-San fights the criminals."

"Zelgadiss-Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! NO FAIR!"

"Life isn't a basket of roses." Though, seeing her frustration, Zelgadiss couldn't help but chuckle.


	16. Chapter 16 Crossing Borders

Chapter 16 - Crossing Borders

The ride to the border was quiet. With Xellos leading the way, Filia and Pokota rode in the middle while Lina took the back. The three prisoners rode quietly – none of them willing to speak to one another. Pokota, the one who the robots wanted, tried to give off a fearless front but failed to do so whenever he thought about what could be awaiting for him in the west. Filia, whose reasons for coming was to learn the truth, kept both golden eyes on the back of Xellos's head for he had the information that she was searching for. Lina, easily the most troubled of them all, had her head hung so low that she had to trust her horse to lead her way. And for Xellos, who happened to be having the best time of his life, was whistling a happy tune and exclaiming joyfully to the others of the wonderful time they would have in the west.

"Your accommodations will be of the best. We treat our guests with the best rooms in the best inns with the best service." He pointed out. "When the Mayor gained office, he eliminated prisons as his first order of office-"

"Where do you keep your prisoners?" Pokota asked suddenly, breaking his code of silence.

"We don't have prisoners. Any law breakers are instantly put to death."

"How uncivilized. With no justice system, chaos will overthrow the nation." The beautiful blonde remarked. "The west is beginning to sound like it is filled with monsters."

"That is because we are lead by one." Xellos chuckled. Filia scoffed at his response, she kicked the sides of her horse and rode past him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." She muttered beneath her breath. Unfortunately, Xellos had heard it and it brought a wide smile to his face. They had left Saillune the day before and been traveling nonstop, only taking necessary stops to refuel their horses. So, hearing her uptight and nauseating voice was music to his ears. Why?

Xellos did not know why and it was getting truly bothersome. It was Pokota who noted the fields they were traveling in were changing. Xellos looked across the golden wheat fields to where the gold would turn to black; it was a sign that they were going to cross the border fairly soon. And when they do, the dangers were just waiting patiently for them.

"I'm stopping." Lina finally spoke for the first time and the others looked. "We've been traveling for hours without a break and I don't know about you robots, but the humans in this group are worn out."

"I agree." Filia joined. "We covered a lot of ground for today, we deserve to have a good meal and rest our tired bodies. Let's rest for the entire night and continue in the morning."

"What a nuisance the human body is." The purple-haired police officer sighed as he unstrapped himself from his horse. While the two women and the robot kid situated themselves in the knee-high wheat, Xellos stood apart from them with his arms crossed, watching them.

"We're awfully close to the border." He began to say. "Nothing but wheat around us." The three ignored him.

"Somebody will see us." His eyebrow rose when Filia stacked a pile of dry wood that Pokota had collected and started a fire. "You want to die, don't you?"

"What are you babbling about now?" She snapped.

"Weren't you the one who said the west is filled with monsters?" He smirked. "The fire is giving away our position to those monsters. They don't care about politics or jurisdiction; they will cross the border and wait for us to be at our most vulnerable, when you two are asleep."

"For someone who wants all human existence to cease, you are being awfully protective." Lina snorted as she peeled off her heavy protective coat and sat comfortably next to Pokota.

"My objective is to bring Pokota-San to the West." Xellos sat across from her with the fire between their bodies. "Your lives are bargaining chips."

"I believe it is Pokota who must decide." Filia lifted a pail to the robot. "Do you want to eat or continue traveling, Pokota?" Pokota looked between the empty pail to Xellos. Filia's lips curled when he took the pail from her hand and ran off to get water. She turned her smiling expression to Xellos who was already sighing.

* * *

They all ate their fill of roasted fish, except for Xellos who was given a charred lizard, and agreed to take shifts to watch out for any ambushes. It was inevitable that the robots were given the roles of watchdog while the females rested since they weren't able to go to sleep. Pokota watched his fellow brethren shine the ruby gem that sat on top of the handle of his slick black cane. The delicate cut stone was beautiful and alluring to look at. He could tell by the way Xellos cleaned it that he treasured this item. But that wasn't why Pokota was watching him.

"How did you know," He spoke to him. "That I was a robot?" The crackling sounds from the fire and the soft squeaks that leaked out of Xellos's cleaning cloth filled the silence. It was until Xellos stopped to examine the shining jewel did he say anything back.

"The beating of your heart."

"My heart doesn't beat-"

"Exactly." He quickly announced. Pokota's lips curled inwards, he dropped his head slightly and stared at the flames. Lifting his hand over his small chest, Pokota's fingers vibrated violently. Abruptly grasping a thought, he looked up at Xellos and tugged his brows to the middle. Xellos must have seen his perplexed expression since a smile appeared on his own face. But before anything could be said, their heads turned instantly when the wheat fields near their bodies moved. Pokota swiped his tomahawk from his sash and Xellos took out his Magnum, the hammer of his gun pulled back quickly. They stared at the moving wheat, anticipating the culprit. A breath of relief slipped out from Pokota's lips when a tiny rodent poked its head out and spotting the weapons, it ran off terrified.

"Just a rat." Pokota returned his weapon. However, his shift partner stood up and with his powerful revolver still in his hand. "Where are you going?" He asked quickly when Xellos stepped away from the burning campfire, heading straight into the dark wheat fields.

"No where special." He simply said and left. Alone with the fire, Pokota picked up a stick with his half-eaten fish and teased it with his teeth. He needed something to do so he can ignore the nagging question that he wanted to ask Xellos when he came back. But as night fell and dawn arrived, Xellos didn't come back.

* * *

"So, he just left?" Lina questioned with her hands to her hips. Pokota nodded and the two females exchanged looks. They quickly agreed to go back home and telling Pokota to search for a way across the wheat, Lina and Filia stayed behind with the burnt out campfire to pack their things.

"What do you think?" Filia spoke as soon as Pokota was at a good distance away from them.

"He did kill his father." Lina spread the charred remains of the fire across the dirt. "Pokota is more than capable to kill Xellos, compared to the rest of us."

"So, you think he is lying?"

"No." The redhead picked up their sleeping tarps and bundled it. "Xellos holds value to him."

"Value?"

"Xellos is a robot and knows more about Pokota than Pokota himself." She muttered so softly that Filia could barely hear her. "He's not going to kill him unless he gets what he wants out of him. Information." Filia broke into a half-smile.

"Isn't that what that Namagomi really is? Just a solution to our problem?" She paused for a second to look at Lina. "Is he a solution to your problem too?"

"What are you talking about?" Lina scoffed loudly.

"Like you said," Filia walked past her, purposely hitting their shoulders together and making her red headed friend look up at her. "Pokota won't kill him because he wants to know more about himself and I won't kill him because he could be the only one who could tell me what had happened in Zephilia." She stopped next to their horses and began to strap her things.

"We won't kill him because we need something out of him." Filia looked over her shoulder at Lina. "So, why do you need him?"

"I…" Lina hesitated for a second. "I don't need him-"

"Then why didn't you kill him yet?"

"I can't murder a robot on my own-"

"One trigger of your Dragon Slave to his head and he would be dead or heavily wounded." The taller woman snorted. Lina opened her mouth wide to argue with her but at the last second, she pulled her voice back and turned her head away. Filia saw her faltering behavior and slightly glared at her.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Lina?" She finally asked. "Is there something going on between you and the Namagomi?" Pressing her hand over her small chest, Lina could feel the protruding object that was hidden behind her top. Lina looked up at Filia's worried expression. Her voice still hesitating to leave, Lina twisted her hand away from the hidden ring and forced her mouth to move.

"Filia, I-" Suddenly, a loud crack from a revolver ricocheted across the wheat field. The horses rose to their hind feet and slam their hoofs against the dirt, but it didn't get any attention from their owners. Instead, Lina and Filia were staring at a man who had a smoking revolver in his hand and a large double edge sword at his hip. This man sneered at them with a twisted malice smile a few feet away. And at his feet, lying with blood seeping out from the bullet wound over his chest and the big open gash in his neck was Xellos.

"Finally," The man with the long red hair snickered. "We meet at last."

* * *

She made a promise to Lina but…

"Gourry-San…" Amelia called him from the doorway of his bedroom. Not moving from his bed for two entire days, he laid in complete darkness and silence. Still wearing the same clothes that he wore the day he last saw Lina, Gourry kept staring at the blank wall with his back turned to the door. Amelia sighed, her shoulders fell lower each time she see him. How could she keep her promise to Lina if she is unable to get through to Gourry? Walking inside, Amelia pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

"Gourry-San…" She called him again except he didn't register. Amelia frowned at this and turned her head to the side, and when she did, she spotted untouched treys of food next to the bed frame.

"Oh, you have to eat." She muttered softly and looked back at his unmoving frame. Staring at him for a long silent minute, Amelia tried to think of something to say but what could she say? So, she reached over and cupped his shoulder.

"Gourry-San," Making her voice as happy and joyful as she can make it, Amelia shook him gently. "You must stop this. This is unlike you." She giggled slightly. "If you keep starving yourself, Lina-San won't recognize you when she comes back to you-"

"Lina isn't coming back to me anymore." He finally spoke and it was depressing. His voice was no longer filled with its natural intensity; rather it was horrifying to hear such a deep sound from his lips. Turning his body to his side, Amelia saw his sickening expression at last. Deep circles under his eyes, his skin looked sickly and grey. Most of all, the constant joyful face that gave such brilliant shine had disappeared. There, he said the most frightening thing of all.

"Love is dead to me." Amelia was taken back at his statement. She pulled her hand from his shoulder to cover her gasp but he had already heard it. Shaking her head at him, Amelia released a shaking breath of hopelessness and lifted herself off the chair. Unable to counter his testimony, she walked out of the room and left him alone in the dark again. Downstairs, Zelgadiss was calculating the shop's profit while Val practiced throwing his daggers across the room to a little target. They continued as Amelia walked into the room. She sat across from Zelgadiss on the table and buried her face in her hands. Looking up from his work, Zelgadiss raised his eyebrow as Amelia let out another sigh of depression.

"What's wrong now?" He asked nonchalantly.

"It's Gourry-San..." Stacking the papers on top of each other, Zelgadiss grabbed a set of documents that he did not go over yet while Amelia reached over and looked over his finished work. "He's still not budging."

"He'll get over it."

"Not this time, Zelgadiss-San." Amelia pouted slightly. "I don't think he'll ever forgive Lina-San for betraying him."

"Give him another trey of food and he'll get over it by tomorrow." Val mentioned nearby.

"That's the thing." She frowned. "He's not eating any of the food that I left for him."

"Gourry not eating?" Zelgadiss and Val simultaneously said with shock.

"It's not like Lina-San destroyed his rock collection this time." Amelia rolled her eyes at them. Getting off the chair, she walked away with her arms crossed behind her head and a sigh to her lips. "Maybe cleaning the shop will clear my head…" Val watched as Amelia sighed away and reluctantly, he went to the table where Zelgadiss was still commuting numbers in his head.

"Zel." The teen sat in the same seat that Amelia was sitting in. "Got a minute?"

"I'm balancing your college fund." However, Val did not move away and so, defeated, Zelgadiss released a sigh. "What do you want?"

"Well…" Val leaned slightly forward, while Zelgadiss kept his eyes lowered on the balance sheet, the pencil in his hand quickly typed the numbers out. "Amelia's been on Gourry's case since Lina left."

"She is worried about him." He muttered.

"I know that." The teen withdrew from Zelgadiss's side and crossed his thin arms tightly. "But Amelia is more attentive to him than usual. She's been all over him. She brought him food and visited him countless of times. She only talks about him and never mentions anything else but Gourry." Val scoffed loudly.

"Even though Gourry is miserable and depressed, he is still an irresistible machine. And now that he is single, he's probably going to go after my Amelia and steal her away just like he did with Sylphiel." He grumbled loudly. The pencil in Zelgadiss's hand had stopped a long time ago. Wide eyed, he was staring intensely at the numbers on the paper but was thinking about something else. Sighing sadly, Val got off from the chair and gave Zelgadiss a pat on the shoulder.

"I should've known that Amelia would end up with someone like Gourry. He is an irresistible machine and Amelia is the Princess that lives in a palace far, far away." He paused for a tense second before letting out another sigh of sadness.

"It's meant to be." Val mentioned as he left Zelgadiss more alone than he ever felt. Dropping the pencil from his hand, Zelgadiss leaned back into his seat and sat in the heavy silence that played annoyingly around him. He had declared that he could never allow himself to be with Amelia for she deserves better and he eventually came to terms with that through countless hours of repeated self-loathing statements. However, imagining Amelia willingly conducting sexual behaviors with another man sickens him. And leaving Saillune would establish no justice since he made an oath to repay every debt to Amelia and her father for saving his life. So, if he cannot be with Amelia and cannot witness her romance another man, what the hell is he going to do? Finally realizing that there is only one option that he had yet to do, he left the papers and grabbed his jacket.

"Zelgadiss-San?" Amelia looked up when Zelgadiss walked past her; she was sweeping the dirt from the shop porch. "Are you done with the numbers already?" He didn't answer her. All he wanted to do was go to his only option.

"What are you doing here?" Zangulas raised his eyebrow when Zelgadiss entered through the tavern doors. The barkeep watched as his first customer of the day sat down in front of him and motioned for a drink. "It's 9 in the morning."

"Give me a drink."

"It's 9 in the fucking morning."

"Give me a drink before I cut something valuable off."

"You sound just like my young and sweet foul-mouth wife." Zangulas sighed and poured fresh liquor into a clean glass mug. Yes, like any indecisive man, Zelgadiss Greywards turned to the juice to make a decision for him.

* * *

From the looks of it, Xellos was unconscious or possibly dead, nonetheless he was no help to them. Lina and Filia stood completely still as this stranger looked them over. Who is this guy? And how the hell did he single-handedly kill a robot? Or perhaps, could he be a robot?

"I would properly thank you for disposing the garbage," Lina directed to Xellos's body under the mystery man's boot with a smirk. "But you haven't told me your name, yet."

"My name is not important." Removing his boot from Xellos's back, he kicked his flimsy robotic body out of his way and took his first steps towards them. "But your execution is." Lina and Filia jumped immediately when the man lifted the Magnum that he took from Xellos and shot a round at their feet. Releasing every round in the chamber, he kept shooting at their feet until there was no more. The large man in the thick brown trench coat threw the empty revolver to the ground and pulled out another long pistol from his belt.

Keeping the revolver at his side, the man paced slowly over, staring down at the two females as if they were meat. Flipping out of her dress and into combat clothes, Filia twisted her HMG to the front of her body and released all the rounds on her belt while Lina loaded her pistols. Smoke and dirt blocked the scene, preventing any of them to see if the rounds had actually hit its target. In the dirty mist, Lina and Filia kept their eyes moving, they held their weapons close. Finally, the dirt landed back on the ground, they were able to spot what had happened. The entire area was completely destroyed. The knee-high wheat field had transformed into a patch of bald earth. And yet, the man was not there.

"I shot everything at him." Filia lowered her tremendous heavy weapon to her side, a disbelief expression appeared. Just as Lina was about to lower her revolver, her ears picked up on heavy breathing from behind her. Instantly, she turned her body and let out all the bullets in her chamber directly at the enemy's chest. He did not budge, instead he laughed when the rounds entered his body, multiple leaks of blood squirted at each entrance. He raised his own revolver and aimed again at Lina's feet, making her jump and dance.

"Stop toying with us!" Filia dumped her HMG and unlatched the iron spike mace that was at her belt. She leaped at the large man and swung her weapon at his head. Like lightening, he vanished just inches from her mace and appeared behind her.

"FILIA!" Lina called out when the man grabbed her friend by the throat. Reaching behind to her pouch of daggers, Lina shot four piercing knives into his arm, hoping that it would make him unhand Filia. However, the man took two of the arrow-shaped daggers out of his arm and threw it back at her. Unable to see the daggers, Lina's body was tossed backwards like a ragdoll when her own creation slammed into her shoulder and abdomen. She released a powerful scream of pain; the jagged and sharp edges prevented her from pulling it out without it getting deeper and larger.

"L-Lina…" Filia whispered weakly. Grasping her neck tighter, the man pulled her close and kept her barely touching the ground. She cringed at the tightness of air and the rancid stench that erupted from this strange man. He examined her thin choking face carefully. Using the end of his revolver like a hand, he moved Filia's golden long bangs away and pressed the barrel against her right cheek. Filia's eyes widen at this act, she stared fearfully at this man's grimacing wicked smile.

Nearby, Pokota watched from behind a large boulder. His entire body shook violently to the sound of Filia's bitter chokes and Lina's painful screams of profanity. He looked at the tomahawks that were available for him. He had to save them. Moving his trembling hands to his belt, he pulled back when Lina released another screech of pain. Pokota buried his face into his knees and squeezed his eyes closed. There he was, cowering behind a stone like a pitiful fool while his friends were about to die, the very friends who were escorting him to the west because he was too much of a coward to go alone.

"How is it," Still examining Filia's tender face, the man breathed into her alluring perfume against her temple before shaking her. "That three of my disciples came to their ends at your frail human hands?"

"Disciples?" Lina managed to get both daggers out and still had enough charismatic to talk down at the man who is literally beating her down. "Oh, you must mean the pathetic little robots that failed to murder little old me." She chuckled weakly as she stumbled to her feet.

"So, those were YOUR robots." Lina panted breathlessly. "Next time," She grabbed her revolver from her left holster. "If there IS a next time since I'm going to kill you, right now," Lina pumped rounds into her weapon and cocked it ready.

"Don't send a drone to do your work. Worthless things break easily compared to humans." Keeping one hand to cover the bleeding wound at her stomach, Lina raised her revolver and aimed it shakily at the man. He stared at her intensely, his thick eyebrows curled with malice.

"Why would my brother consider such a pitiable existence an important commodity?" He suddenly said that made Lina flinch.

"Nevertheless, you have caused more trouble alive than dead." The man lifted his pistol and aimed it at Lina's forehead. "With you dead, he would need to alter his plans."

"Is that right? Then you better get rid of me before I alter your plans." The redhead smirked. With both revolvers ready to shoot a bullet from its barrel, the two gunslingers stared at one another with great intensity. It was Filia's rattling intake of air that made Lina lose her control and release the first shot. The man allowed the bullet to hit him in his chest; he blasted his own round at Lina and accurately hit her chest.

"No…" Filia watched as her best friend fell backwards to the ground. It was an accurate shot into her heart, an instant kill shot. Landing with a loud thud, the redhead laid still as her never ending blood pumped out of her body. Behind the stone, Pokota stared at Lina's tossed body. Her red hair spilled over her face like a sheet; it was inevitable that Lina Inverse was dead. The man looked at the woman that he had taken in his hand and smiled coyly when she glared at him murderously with developed tears. Her expression quickly changed the second his fingers around her neck tightened and unlike before, there was no little stream of air that she was able to take.

Suffocating as loud as a gun blast, Pokota covered his ears; he refused to hear her die. Filia's mouth hung slightly open and her eyes rolled back, she struggled to keep alive and just when the darkness could overtake her, a loud humming noise set off next to them. Through uncontrollable blinking, Filia saw that the loud vibrating sound was coming from another weapon or rather; it was coming from what became a weapon. No longer a human appendage, the right arm had changed into a metal multiple barrel machine gun.

"Why am I not surprised?" The man didn't have to see who it was. He already knew that it was him. Xellos smiled with blood still spilling from his tattered neck and released the black rounds from out of his arm. Not wanting to risk getting shot because of unwanted cargo, the murderer finally released Filia by tossing her flimsy body at Xellos. Preparing herself to hit the ground, she was immediately dumbfounded when the alive-again robot caught her safely in his arms. But when he did so, he had to stop shooting and it allowed the man to shoot back at him.

Running through the untouched wheat fields, Xellos found a large stone that was big enough for the two of them and quickly went behind it for cover. He kept a tight hold of Filia against his body and waited for the bullets to stop. Filia, who was still shocked, had her deeply flustered face against his shoulder. He saved her. Xellos saved her. She couldn't believe it. The robot who wanted all humanity to cease living had saved her. When the enemy finally finished his round of bullets, Xellos finally looked down at Filia and caught staring at her stunned expression for a second too long, so he quickly made a comment.

"You're heavier than you look."

"You're charming as always." Her face quickly changed and shoved away from his arms. Filia gently massaged the deep bruises that had appeared on her neck and looked at his transformed arm. "Why didn't you use that before?"

"I didn't think I had to use it." He chuckled. It was then; Filia noticed the severe cuts that in Xellos's neck. Beneath the red fluid and skin flaps, there was a bothered sheet of metal that had a collection of scars and dents. Xellos must've noticed since he turned his body fully away to check around the boulder.

"Is he still there?" Before Xellos could answer her, the stone that was covering their location was suddenly split apart into two and then into little bite size pieces. Cut from the large sword that he had on his belt, Filia and Xellos jumped back when the killer swung his blade at their necks. Following Xellos instead of her, Filia watched as the man slashed his long sword at the man who saved her. He dodged each swing but at the last second. It was obvious that Xellos was too slow and he would not be able to dodge every attack. Filia had to do something and that was when she spotted her unfinished packed luggage.

"Why am I not surprised?" The man said in a booming voice. "My brother seeking help from a pet-"

"Not just your brother, Gaav." Finally saying his name, Xellos smiled. "The Outlaw Four."

"The Outlaw Four…" The man named Gaav repeated with a scoff. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Taking the handle of his sword with both hands, he ran his quick blade at Xellos's chest and made a huge gash. Xellos fell to his side, as if there weren't enough blood to leave his body, a bucket of blood continued to pour out.

"The Outlaw Four is a sham." Gaav paced in front of the fallen man with his thick sword on his shoulder. "They would all fall from my hand if placed against me."

"And yet," The purple-haired man weakly laughed. "You ran with your tail between your legs when Hell-Master threatened to kill you." Glaring at him, Gaav reached down and grabbed Xellos by the ends of his purple hair. He pulled him off the ground so their faces were next to one another.

"The Outlaw Four that you diligently serve under have cheated their way to the top." Specks of spat landed gently on Xellos's cheek. "I am more MACHINE than any of them are."

"Then why did the lithium refuse to take your body like it did with mines?" Xellos smiled. Shaking with tremendous anger, Gaav released a loud snarl and slashed Xellos repeated with his sword. He finally stopped when he heard a whistle from behind him.

"HEY! YOU GROSS, PIECE OF SHIT!" Filia screamed yards away. "DODGE THIS!" Pulling the trigger of her shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenade launcher, the warhead blasted out of the barrel and flew straight over the field at Gaav. Hitting him in the center of his chest, the deadly missile picked him off the ground and carried him another mile away thus releasing a large explosion. Flinging away the used weapon to the ground, Filia ran to Xellos's side and picked his tattered body from the ground.

"Come on, you Namagomi, use your legs." She growled. "We need to leave NOW-"

"Why, Filia-San," Xellos moved his head to lean against her shoulder. "That was probably the nicest thing anybody ever did for me. Do I owe you a favor now?"

"Yeah, whatever, I don't care! Just move your legs!" Filia snarled as she dragged him away to the taller fields of wheat in the area. When Gaav returned to the battlefield completely unharmed from the explosion, he stopped at the trail of fresh blood that lead into the build-up of tall wheat grass and sighed.

"So, they want to be chased." Instead of following the trail, he turned away from it.

"Mazenda." Almost immediately, the beautiful maroon-haired female robot dressed in saloon clothes stepped out from the wheat. Still alive and looking brand new, Mazenda stepped in front of her master and knelt down with her head lowered to the ground.

"What is your bidding, my lord?"

"Follow the purple freak and that female. When you find out their purpose, kill them and report back to me." Before Mazenda stood up to leave, Gaav grasped her naked shoulder and glared at her. "Failure to do so will be death."

"Yes, my lord." She quickly answered and ran into the field. Reaching into his coat, Gaav grabbed a brand new cigar from his pocket and put it to his lips until he spotted something quite unusual. There was a body missing.


	17. Chapter 17 Troubled Decisions

Chapter 17 - Troubled Decisions

If he had been stubborn for another second, it would have been too late. Springing into sitting position, the Bandit Killer coughed loudly as air returned to her lungs. She hurled forward, clutching at her chest from the wound that Gaav's bullet bestowed upon her. Tightness and throbbing, Lina quickly removed her bloody vest and without considering Pokota, she undid her buttoned blood red blouse. Pokota turned his head away the second Lina revealed her stained left breast. Covered in a thin sheet of blood, Lina wiped the fluid using her fingertips so she can observe her wound. Fortunately for her, Lina always wore her black vest jacket that was lined with special diamond and tungsten fibers. It was sturdy enough to stop any bullet, even the one that left Gaav's Magnum, but it wouldn't stop the powerful force that come with the bullet. Lina inspected the bleeding bruise on her chest. Gaav's revolver was so powerful that it literally stopped her heart from beating and if it weren't for Pokota's mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, she would have stayed dead. Lina took a breath of relief, however cringed when the open wounds from her shoulder and abdomen revived once more. Still, she brought herself up her feet.

"We need to go back." Lina shoved Pokota away at first until she fell forward; he caught her before she landed on her face. "Filia." She breathlessly whispered with her face pressed hard against Pokota's shoulder. "Filia is still back there-"

"We need to take care of your wounds, first." While Pokota looked over the dagger opening on her shoulder, Lina kept her eyes shut and her face twisted in self-loathing. Pokota noticed the heavy tension and cleared his throat gently.

"Filia is safe. She's with Xellos." Lina spun her head to him, wide-eyed and full of shock.

"Xellos… is alive?"

"He saved her." He said rather shamefully. Lina didn't detect it.

"Where?"

"On the other side of the wheat fields, they were already too far ahead when I got to your side." Pokota explained while smearing grounded seeds and plant paint against her open sores. Nodding, Lina turned her face away and waited for Pokota to finish, partially glad and yet a little disturbed. They were in the middle of the forest that ran alongside of the border between the east and the west. Surrounded by green thick trees and overgrown bushes, it was a more familiar environment then the wheat fields except all Lina could think about was what had happened in the past hour. Finished spreading the medicine over her shoulder and abdomen; Pokota stopped and glanced at the bleeding left breast that was left carelessly for him to see.

"Um…" He hesitated for a second. Lina was not listening. "Here." Pokota shoved the green paint to her, hinting her to finish tending to her own body but she didn't move. She paid no attention to him since she was too busy wondering. Releasing a shaky breath, Pokota dipped two fingers into the homemade medicine and pressed them against the bruise.

"NOT SO HARD." The redhead snapped immediately and he quickly pulled his fingers back. "Be gentle. I am a maiden." Lina snorted with her nose turned up. It seemed that she didn't care that he was touching her inappropriately. Still reluctant, Pokota hesitantly spread the paint tenderly above her nipple. He kept his eyes locked on the movement of his fingers, not the location of his fingers. About done, he leaned his head forward to blow it dry. He refused to stare at her breast or her face so he kept his eyes on the ring on her gold neck chain. It was a beautiful ring. Perfectly cut diamond with crystals imbedded into the gold band, it was the perfect ensemble piece ever created. And the crystals, it looked as if it were on fire or like it was glowing. As he stared at the ring resting peacefully on Lina's smooth skin between her breasts, it began to tease him. The crystals on the ring glowed in sequence to a melody that was created in his head. That melody taunted him to go closer and he did just a little bit but moved quickly away when Lina broke the hypnosis with her shrill voice.

"Are you done or are you going to keep staring at my chest?" She glared at him with such fury that it brought a deep red blush on his face.

"S-Sorry…" He apologized and drew his head back. Lina snorted loudly and fixed her shirt while Pokota tried to compute what he had seen on her jewelry. What the hell just happened? He scratched the side of his face. Did a ring just talk to him? No, the crystals on the ring did. But, how? Just as Pokota was rubbing his throbbing temples, Lina stood up from the ground and patted the dirt from her blood-drenched clothes.

"We need to move." She spoke, instantly grabbing Pokota's attention. "The first thing Filia is going to do is find immediate shelter and stay there until nightfall. What we need to do is find her and get the fuck out of here before that bastard finds us."

"Was he… really that strong?" Pokota asked fearfully. Lina lowered her eyes for a second before forming a smile; she looked back at him and chuckled.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." If only that was true, her thoughts added afterwards.

* * *

It was inevitable what happened next. After much heavy scolding and wagging of the pointer finger, Amelia dragged the heavily alcoholic man out of the tavern in the late afternoon. Searching for the missing bounty hunter for most of the day, Amelia finally found him singing and dancing with Zangulas, who was also very drunk.

"You are absolutely GROUNDED from taking another alcoholic drink!" She snarled as she walked in the middle of the dirt road. Amelia blushed hard when the town's people giggled at her and Zelgadiss. And why wouldn't they? The mayor's daughter was carrying a highly intoxicated man on her back like how a father would carry his child! Her eyes rolled when Zelgadiss muttered something against the back of her neck.

"I can't believe how irresponsible you are right now, Zelgadiss-San. We are supposed to be looking after Val-Kun and the shop!" Amelia continued his scolding. "Filia-San is counting on us to take care of her responsibilities and you ran off getting drunk!" Turning with the road, she let out a loud snort when Zelgadiss let out another inaudible sentence. Amelia was just a few steps away from the shop when the door slammed opened and Gourry stepped outside.

"Gourry-San!" Amelia dropped Zelgadiss to the ground, not caring that his head hit the ground. She ran to the tall blond who stopped at the sound of her voice. "Are you feeling better now?" However he didn't answer her. Gourry just stared at her face and frowned greater, which made Amelia frown too.

"Gourry-San…?" She lifted her hand and touched him on the arm. Sitting up, Zelgadiss rubbed the back of his throbbing head while grumbling curse words until he saw Amelia standing next to Gourry. He watched her touch Gourry on his bare arm and sadly lowered his eyes.

"Everything is going to be alright." Zelgadiss heard Amelia say to Gourry. "Lina-San is very sorry-"

"I told you already." Gourry spoke. "I don't care about her anymore."

"Don't say that, Gourry-San. I know you care about Lina-San very much and I know Lina-San cares very deeply about you too."

"If she did, then why did she betray me?" He muttered with his eyes now glaring at the ground.

"Please, Gourry-San," Amelia shook Gourry gently. "Please don't stop loving Lina-San." Unlike his usual pleasant behavior, Gourry shoved Amelia's hand off and barked at her.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU!" Moving quickly away, Amelia trembled in fear when he glared at her. "LINA IS DEAD TO ME!" Gourry yelled at her again and this time, she tripped to the ground and landed on her side. Unable to sit idly by, Zelgadiss stormed his way between them and swung his fist across, hitting Gourry hard on the cheek. Gourry dropped to the ground, completely caught by surprise from Zelgadiss's fist. Even Amelia was shocked at his sudden behavior. Gourry looked up at his friend, who was fiercely glowering at him. Before he could say anything, Zelgadiss swooped down and grabbed a handful of his shirt.

"I don't give a fuck that Lina fucked you over. I don't give a fuck that you feel like your entire fucking life was a fucking lie." Tightening his hold on him, Zelgadiss slammed his forehead against his. "What I do give a fuck about is her." Amelia's eyes slightly widen. "And if you hurt her again, I will make you wish that you were never born." Gourry held his breath when Zelgadiss shoved the end of his revolver into the bottom of Gourry's chin. "One is all I need. Two thousand is what I'm going to use." He threatened so murderously that Amelia immediately got off the ground and grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Z-Zelgadiss-San," Her voice was shaking. "I'm alright. Please. Please let go of Gourry-San."

"Apologize." Zelgadiss grinded the revolver into his throat. "Apologize to her, now." Moving his eyes to the gun and to Zelgadiss's fierce expression, Gourry opened his mouth and whispered a soft apology. Amelia nodded and tugged on Zelgadiss's jacket, registering him to let go. Slowly, he finally did let Gourry go and took several steps back. But when he did, Gourry instantly got up and sprinted away from them. Amelia called after him but Gourry was already gone, disappearing to the other road that leads out of Saillune.

* * *

Sitting side-by-side and their shoulders pressed against each others, neither one of them made a noise. Past the wheat fields, through the forest alongside the border of east and west, they found a small cave that was owned by a bear, whom Xellos brutally murdered even after Filia pleaded him not too. They sat towards the end of the cave, behind a large boulder. It was cold and uncomfortable. Smelling like decayed flesh, Filia had her nose buried in her clothes the entire time while Xellos sat with his legs drawn open and head hung low.

"Namagomi." She would call him whenever she didn't feel him moving and he would register that he was still alive by releasing a soft chuckle. They remained there from the morning of the attack until that night when it started to rain and Filia decided that her clothes were stained enough of Xellos's blood. Leaning his head against the cold stone, Xellos watched in silence as Filia tended to his wounds. She removed his ruined white dress shirt and looked over the multiple different cuts all over his abdomen. However, unlike the wound on his neck which showed the metal beneath his skin, the wounds showed actually open flesh and fine red blood. She took a second to observe his body. His body looked exactly human and when she placed a hand over his abs, she could feel the warmth coming out of it. He resembled so much of a human, and yet, he wasn't one.

Mixed with feelings of aggression and confusion, Filia disregarded her thoughts and returned to treating this monster. Pulling out the extra material that was tucked into her high-waist combat pants, she ripped the bottom edges of her white tank top and began to wipe the blood that left Xellos's wounds. When the rag got soaked with blood, Filia would run to the mouth of the cave and wash the red using the rain. She'll wring the cloth dry and come back to Xellos. Almost like washing him, Xellos finally spoke when she brought the cloth to his neck.

"You hate me." He suddenly mentioned, catching Filia's golden eyes with his.

"Yes." She said after a few seconds of listening to the rain. "I hate you."

"Why?" Filia stared at him with the slightly bloody rag in her hand; she glanced from his eyes to the wound on his neck, grimacing at the metal beneath the flaps of skin. "Is it because of what I am?" He asked since he saw her hesitation.

"No." And ever so gently, Filia dabbed the wet rag over his neck. "It is because of who you are." She whispered and it made him smirk.

"You hate me and yet, you wipe the blood from my wounds." Xellos scoffed sarcastically. Filia rolled her eyes; she reached into her side pocket against her thigh and took out a small pouch, inside containing thread and needle. With precision and quickness, Filia stitched each cut on his abdomen nicely and the terrible gash on his neck. Afterwards, she wiped the stitched cuts clean with the rag again and decided to leave to find food, except Xellos grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He held her wrist so tightly that she feared that he was going to rip it off. She kept extremely still when he tugged her forward, beckoning her to come closer.

"I won't bite unless you bite first." He chuckled and it flustered her. Not wanting to lose to him, Filia opened his bent legs and settled between them, her face twisted with accomplishment when she felt him tense up at her closeness.

"I didn't think it was possible for a terrifying robot to be nervous around a weak human being but I guess I was wrong." She teased and stuck her tongue at him. It was at this, Xellos grasped the bottom of her jaw, cupping her chin and directing her face towards him. They stared at each other for a long while. Wanting to move but unable too, Filia remained still while Xellos looked over her expression. He watched her intensely with hooded purple eyes. Hooded deeply shaded eyes that looked so vibrant and deadly, and yet, Filia saw tiny hints of fatigue and uncertainty. These eyes grazed over her skin, her cheeks, her sculpted nose, and her rosy lips. Finally, he released her chin and gently, using the back of his fingers, caressed her cheek. He was allowing her to move away from him but she stayed, not realizing that she was free from his grasp.

"Nervous around you?" His cool voice released a giggle. "I beg to differ." Gliding his fingertips to her high cheekbone, he fiddled with the ends of her golden hair and pushed it away. It was interfering with his inspection of her beautiful face. Almost immediately Xellos regretted thinking that thought and lowered his eyes to her neck where he saw the dark bruises that Gaav had left on her skin. He retrieved a silk black handkerchief from his pants pocket, the same cloth that he uses to wipe his monocle. Wondering what he was going to do with that, Filia jumped when he encircled the cloth around her neck.

"What are you doing?"

"You have bruises." He simply said and covered the terrible marks. Hesitant, Filia touched the cloth where Xellos had made a fancy knot. As she ran her fingertips against the smooth texture of the silk, Xellos spun his head around and looked at the mouth of the cave. Walking out of the rain and into the same cave, it was Mazenda. Instantly, Xellos grabbed Filia by the back of her head and slammed her entire body against his chest, his fingers wrapped tightly over her mouth. She immediately tried to twist and pull away until she heard the sounds of heels clicking against the cave rocks. Filia quickly stopped misbehaving and remained still, letting Xellos to hold onto her like a long distant lover would do for the second time that day.

* * *

No luck finding Filia, Lina and Pokota sat next to each other in the shine of the moon under the widest tree that they could find and waited quietly for the rain to stop. The redhead held her remaining weapon in her hand, the lithium dagger, while Pokota kept his hand near his tomahawks. With her back and head resting against the bark of the tree, Lina could see how tense and uncomfortable Pokota was just by how far away he was from the tree. His back hunched forward and his head hung between his knees; Pokota did not move his eyes away from the ground. Sighing, Lina stretched out her legs and decided to only speak when spoken too. If Pokota wants to talk, he will talk. Until then, she will just use this time to relax her body and heal her wounds. They stayed that way for a great while, until Pokota finally lifted his eyes off the ground.

"I am a robot." Lina looked at him. "I can pretend to be human, to think and act, but I can never be one." She noticed that his hands were shaking. "And because I am a robot, I stood by and watched you and Filia get hurt. Like the robot that I am, I did nothing."

"You were scared-"

"I abandoned you and Filia!" He snapped at her. "I didn't stop him from killing you and it's because I am a robot. Robots are horrible machines, made solely for the purpose of destruction." Breathing heavily, Pokota clenched his trembling hands into fists. "I'm no different than Xellos." He said finally.

"A lot of humans abandon their comrades in battle, Pokota." Lina rolled her eyes. "You are not the first."

"To abandon your comrades is the worst thing possible. It's criminal." Pokota whispered cruelly. "Those humans don't deserve to live their privileged joyous lives."

"Then, I should cut my wrists and let the rain kill me since I am one of them." The proclaimed Bandit Killer chuckled. Pokota turned his head and stared at the smiling redhead.

"You abandoned someone?" She didn't answer right away since she wanted to drop the subject however seeing how interested Pokota had became, Lina had no choice but to enlighten him for a little while.

"There were four of us. Filia, Gourry, Milgazia and I were assigned to protect a small village near my home town of Zephilia. We weren't told any reason why we were guarding this village but it was an order from the higher officials of Zephilia and we weren't permitted to ask questions. What was supposed to be a simple bodyguard mission became a horrible, life-changing event." Lina started. "We guarded that village for two weeks straight and nothing happened. On our last day there, Filia and I got into an argument. I wanted to leave and go back to hunting criminals, while Filia had a feeling that something was going to happen and wanted to stay."

"What did you guys do?" Pokota asked since Lina stopped talking. She let out an exhausted sigh.

"I left with Gourry and Milgazia following me and Filia stayed. Four hours after we left, that village got attacked. When we saw the dark smoke coming from the village, we knew what had happened and rushed back but it was too late, the entire town was destroyed. There were no survivors except for Filia and one kid. The higher officials in Zephilia accused Filia of the massacre and sentenced her to death by hanging." Lina finally looked at Pokota. "I knew that Filia didn't do it so Gourry and I broke her out of prison and took the kid with us. We told Milgazia and asked him to leave with us since Zephilia will accuse him as an associate to our crimes, but he had enough of our tomfoolery and went to the North while we went East, and arrived in Saillune where no one knew or heard about us."

"Pokota, I abandoned my best friend and because of my decision, a lot of people died that day and Filia became the most sought after female in Zephilia." She released a small smirk. "I wouldn't be surprised if Gourry and I are sentenced to the same crime now. Zephilia probably thinks we were all part of the massacre too."

"So…" Pokota hesitated. "So, that's why Filia agreed to come? Because Xellos knows something?"

"If you were in her position, wouldn't you want to know the person who framed you for a thousand deaths?" The redhead questioned him and leaned her head back on the bark of the tree. Lina closed her eyes and gave off a relaxed sigh when she breathed into the cooling rain smell. Realizing that she won't say another word on the subject, Pokota made his body lean against the tree. He stared at the rain splash against the ground near his leather moccasins. Not wanting to get them any wetter, he folded his legs in and decided to ask Lina one more question.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why did you agree to come along? Do you want to know who framed Filia too?" Pokota asked with a hint of innocent cluelessness. "Or it is because of something else?"

"That's none of your business, puny robot. Now, shut up and let me sleep." She snorted aloud with her eyes remained close. Pokota gave a large pout and glared at his knees.

"Flat chest monster…" Seconds later, he breathed easily and thanked god that Lina didn't hear him. However, in actuality, Lina did hear it but she simply didn't care. She was too busy thinking about her true purpose. Why was she sitting under a tree in the middle of nowhere, possibly being stalked by several other men with trench coats? What was her reason to be there? She wanted to admit to herself that she thought long and hard but she already knew why she wanted to leave before Pokota invited her and that reason was troubling her greatly. It wasn't because she wanted the adventure. Honestly, she cared less about the adventure. It wasn't because of Xellos. She didn't feel the same emotions that she felt when she first met Xellos or close to it. She lost all feelings for him after what he had done to her.

No, it was because she wanted to stay away from Saillune, from bounty hunting, and from everything else that reminded her of Gourry. Most of all, she wanted to be as far away from Gourry as possible. It was strange that she wanted to be so distant from anything dumb and blonde, and yet, she wanted him to take her back and love her. It gave sour tears in her eyes. How is she going to get the love of her life back when she didn't want to be near him? Picking the ring out from under her blouse, she looked at it with awe. It certainly is a beautiful engagement ring. She only wished that she could wear it proudly on her finger and not around her neck. Just as she was about to shove it back into hiding, Lina noticed Pokota staring at the ring intensely next to her.

"I don't know why…" He curled his eyebrows. "But I want that ring." Pokota lifted his hand and reached for it, only to have Lina move it away from his fingers.

"Are you trying to steal from me?" Lina growled. "That would be an unfortunate slip-up on your part."

"It's just…" The robot shook his head. "It's the crystals. It's telling me to take it from you."

"Don't be stupid. It's just crystals-"

"No, really." He tried to convince her. "I was staring at it when I was putting on your medicine and it began to glow-"

"It was the sun reflecting on it-"

"And-And I can hear a song playing in my head with the glowing lights!" Pokota exclaimed rather hysterically. "It felt like I was in a trance and the crystals started to talk to me… It wanted me to take it." Lina watched Pokota carefully. She eventually looked away and stared upon the jewelry in the palm of her hand. This ring is speaking to him? No, he said that the crystals were speaking to him. Lina adjusted the ring so she can examine the crystals imbedded in the gold band. Then, just like Pokota said, the tiny gems released a bright glow in a playful sequence like it was playing a song but she didn't hear the song.

"Did you hear it?" Pokota gasped. Could it be, Lina began to thought, that the crystals in this ring are something more valuable than decorative worth? Lina's eyes widen at the next thought. Could it be that the crystals were what the robots are desperately searching for all along? It would explain Pokota's bizarre obsession for it. Almost evil-like, a small grin developed on Lina's face. There was only one way to find out if her thoughts were right or not.

* * *

The remainder of the day was spent looking for Gourry; however, he wasn't the only person they were looking for. After the incident, Zelgadiss had gone missing too. Amelia called and called after him, yet he did not come to her. Honestly, she was more worried about Zelgadiss, rather than Gourry. Whenever she called Gourry's name, she called for Zelgadiss three times more. Unable to find both of them, Amelia returned to Filia's shop and waited restlessly for any of them to return. Constantly looking out the window and calling their names whenever she saw a frame of a person, she was disappointed time after time when it wasn't them. It was nearly midnight when the door to the shop opened again. It was Zelgadiss.

When he heard the fear in Amelia's voice the moment he threatened Gourry, it troubled him greatly. He was trying to protect her and by doing so, he appeared as a monster and frightened Amelia. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to scare her and he did. Incapable of facing her, he ran to the other side of town and hid in a dark alley where he punished himself for frightening Amelia with various self-loathing statements about his appearance and monstrous behavior. He was there for hours and began to debate whether to leave Saillune since Amelia will never look at him the same until he heard Amelia calling his name. She called for him with great sadness that it broke his heart when he heard a tearful cry break into her vocal cords. It was a crime to make a lady cry but to make his Amelia shed tears was utterly unacceptable. He knew the only way he can redeem his terrible actions was to properly apologize and hope that she will accept him again. Zelgadiss instantly stopped in the middle of the shop when he heard familiar sounds coming from the back of the store.

When he came to the back door, Zelgadiss leaned his body against the doorway to watch her. Amelia was launching powerful punches into a beaten sand bag that was dangling from a tree in the back yard. Whenever she was troubled, Amelia would pound her fists into the bag until her knuckles bleed but before that happened Zelgadiss would interfere and calm her down. This time though, he watched the tiny woman torture her uncovered fists with great desire until, without seeing him, Amelia stopped suddenly and dropped her arms to her side slowly.

"Zelgadiss-San." She called his name suddenly. Caught by surprise, Zelgadiss straighten at the mention of his name but did not answer back. Turning her head to look at him over her shoulder, Amelia looked at him with tremendous worry in her eyes.

"Aren't you going to speak to me, Zelgadiss-San?" She asked with so much despair that it made Zelgadiss's stomach clench. Even then, he did not say anything back. Sighing, Amelia looked away, her body faced purposely absent from him. They stood there for a long silent minute before she let out another sigh.

"When you left…" With her bottom lip trembling, Amelia released the tearful breath of air that she had trouble holding back. "When you left, I started to think about… about what was happening to us." Her hands grabbed the ends of her short dress and began to tease it with her fingers, a habit that she does whenever she was being hesitant.

"A-And…" Amelia's eyebrows curled, preventing her tears from falling. "I got frightened-"

"I frightened you." Zelgadiss interrupted.

"No, Zelgadiss-San." She told him loudly. Turning her body to face him, Amelia glared at him with wet eyes. With her chest moving quickly, she lifted her hand to where her heart is and held it.

"When you threatened Gourry-San, I was shocked. I never knew you would..." She stopped for a second to collect her thoughts. "Then… you left and I thought you were gone." Her eyes lowered to the ground. "I thought you left me alone. F-Forever..."

"Amelia…" Zelgadiss never heard her so sad before.

"Zelgadiss-San…" She called him tearfully. "Please." Amelia trembled before him. "Please, promise me you won't leave me alone…" Her tears dropped from her eyes and down to her cheeks. "Because… Because I-I don't know what I'll do… Without you." Before her tears reach her chin, Zelgadiss was already next to her, pulling her tiny body in his arms so tight that they looked like one.

"You don't need me." He said into her ear however Amelia shook her head violently.

"But I-I do." Burying her face into his shirt, she squeezed more water from her eyes. "I… I need you, Zelgadiss-San…" Amelia whimpered as she hugged him back. "I can't live if you're not by my side-"

"Don't say that." Zelgadiss grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. "Don't ever say that." His tone was more serious than before. Staring at each other with such despair, Zelgadiss was the first to move. He lifted his hand to her cheek and gently wiped her tears away with the tips of his fingers.

"I don't want you to live for anyone, Amelia." He whispered softly. "You need to live for yourself." Zelgadiss said with a smile forming on his lips. Amelia stared at the curved mouth with wide eyes. She lowered her eyes away and slightly glared at the ground.

"Why?" She angrily grumbled. "Why should I live for myself when you don't?" Amelia turned her body swiftly from his touch and began to walk towards the back door of the house until Zelgadiss stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"What are you talking about-"

"Oh, just admit it, Zelgadiss!" She scoffed loudly and faced him immediately with a heated expression that it made him take a few steps back. Calling him without a prefix, Amelia angrily threw his hand off her wrist.

"Why do you get to express your affection and I cannot?" Amelia asked so furiously that she stomped her foot to the grass. "Is my affection a disease to you?" Closing her fists so tight that the blood began to leak from her knuckles, Amelia glared at him with all her might.

"Is my love not good enough for you, Zelgadiss?" Zelgadiss's eyes widen at her trembling question. Crying more than before, Amelia frowned greater and dropped her eyes to the ground.

"Why can't you just let us be happy together?" Speechless and completely stunned, Zelgadiss just stared at her. He kept standing there even after Amelia left his sight. Incapable of moving his body, he was also unable to think. She was the person who cured him of his burns and loneliness. Amelia is the first and only woman who treated him with such kindness that he naturally fell in love with her and felt happiness for the first time. However, he foreseen his happiness coming to an end for they were not made to be together. He is an ex-mercenary, a hired hand to murder and conspiracies. He dealt with the devil and survived. While she believes in truth and justice, wants the world to be peaceful, and will gladly fight the battle until she is victorious in the end. They were so different that Zelgadiss couldn't see them together. He believed that she would marry another and he had accepted that outcome because he would do anything to keep her happy. He had accepted being alone forever and was waiting for the day when Amelia told him that she was in love with another man. But now, Amelia tells him that she is in love with him. She didn't want any another, she wanted him. No, she needed him. And Zelgadiss needed her too.

* * *

The cold-blooded thing stood at the front of the cave, watching the falling rain in silence. Xellos carefully peered around the large boulder, his eyes opened fully when he saw Mazenda standing just a few feet away. Slowly, he turned his head back and stared at the person who was keeping him company for the past hour. They have not moved from their position once and with her legs bent under her weight, Filia could hardly feel her legs anymore. Numb and uncomfortable, she used all her concentration to desperately keep her torturous sounds to herself.

Xellos stared at her. For once in their short-lived un-friendship, Filia was finally keeping her mouth shut and that allowed Xellos to really look at her. There she was, sitting in between his legs as if she was offering herself to his control and yet, he couldn't do anything. His thoughts about her beauty returned and this time, Xellos didn't regret thinking it. Filia is beautiful. There is no doubt about that. Filia's eyes sprung open when she felt a touch on her cheek. She quickly relaxed to see that it was only the Namagomi. Although, she did look at him in confusion when he kept his fingers on her face, what was he doing?

The danger had slipped from Xellos's mind and all he could think about was her golden hair. Even in a dark cave, the dangling bangs against her long angled face looked like strands of sunshine. Moving his hand to the pun on her head, he grabbed the pin that was holding her hair and slipped it out, letting her long smooth hair float down. Her eyebrows curled inward until a small smile formed on Xellos's lips. He ran his fingers through Filia's hair and when he got close to the ends, he playfully twirled it with his fingertips like a woman would do to her own hair whenever she was flirting. Xellos met with Filia's wide eyes and his smile grew wider.

What is this robot doing to her? Filia could feel her face getting hotter each second they stare upon each other. He is touching her hair like it was his own. But it wasn't his hair. It was her hair this Namagomi robot is toying with! She had every motive to slap his hand away and pound his head into the boulder, course it will give away their position to Mazenda and she didn't want to die. So, she can pull her hair away from his hand and he would get the idea that she no longer wanted him to touch. Okay, so, why isn't she doing just that? As if she was caught frozen in time, Filia had enough strength to move but she didn't. She sat there, watching this murderer touch her like no man had done before because they were simply too afraid of her. But, not this man. He had the audacity to challenge her in every way possible. This man was truly one that she never encountered with before. However, he wasn't a man. Filia could feel her eyes sting. This Namagomi is a robot. A being that only carries one emotion and that is malice. As she closed her eyes to look away from his handsome smile, one question kept nagging her each time Xellos's fingers traveled down her silky hair.

Why did he have to be a robot?


	18. Chapter 18 Everlasting Rain

Chapter 18 - Everlasting Rain

"How long do I have to do this for?" Crouched next to a blazing fire holding a saucepan filled with liquid metal, Pokota repeatedly patted down the small fires that were starting on his clothes.

"Until I say so." Having sacrificed her remaining weapon, the Dragon Slave, Lina was risking everything on inventing a new metal combination. Even if the crystals on the gold band were what she believed it to be, there could still be a chance of failing. Carefully plucking a few number of tiny crystals from the ring, Lina gazed at the glowing gems as she knelt next to Pokota. Raising her hand to where the liquid metal bubbled a foot lower, she paused before dropping the crystals in.

Was this right? Lina asked herself. Destroying the beautiful ring that Gourry had given her? She stared at the crystals twinkling next to each other. A sorrowful feeling occurred as she kept staring. It wouldn't be right if she were wearing it on her finger in the near future. The deep pain in her heart made her body tremble. Taking a shark intake of air into her lungs, Lina turned her hand so the gems would roll off her palm. One by one, the crystals fell into the liquid metal and slowly drowned in its heat.

"Is this… going to work?" Pokota glanced at Lina's serious face. "I mean, it's not going to cause an explosion if it doesn't work… right?"

"I don't know." She honestly told him. "I never worked with Lithium before so I don't know if it's going to work or not."

"S-SO…" The puny robot continued to glance at the sinking gems and Lina's stoic expression. "WE COULD DIE IN ANY SECOND?"

"Likely." Lina watched the metal melt the crystals and turn to a deep red color. She grabbed the handle of the saucepan from Pokota and gently swirled the mixture without letting it splash against the sides. Pokota took several steps back, keeping a good distance between him and the unknown matter. He watched as Lina hunched forward to take a better look of the substance. Just as she was tipping the pan upward, the liquid metal released a low vibrating sound and glowed bright. Recognizing the sound to his own vibrations, Pokota hurriedly rushed to Lina's side to stare upon the creation.

* * *

It was still raining but Mazenda left the cave, leaving Filia and Xellos finally. With her hair still dangling against her face, Filia carefully went to the mouth of the cave. She looked around the heavy pouring rain and sighed. This is no good. The rain was so powerful that it could rip open Xellos's stitches in a second. No, Filia decided, if they were to survive the upcoming fight, she needed to keep Xellos alive. But, her eyes weakened, what about Pokota? He was still out there.

"I'm going to look for Pokota." Filia told Xellos when she went to his side and stopped him from getting off the floor. "Alone."

"Getting Pokota-San safely to the West is my mission-"

"If you go out there, the rain will open your stitches." She grabbed his bloody white dress shirt from the side and covered him. "In order to survive this hellish place, I have the unfortunate task of keeping you alive. So, in return of your protection, I will find Pokota for you."

"And the journey to the West?" Xellos asked with a smirk.

"We can get to that predicament when we get there." Filia rolled her eyes and got up to leave.

"Wait." The robot grabbed her wrist before she left. Reaching into his pocket, he took out three handheld black darts and handed it to her. "Take these."

"What are these?"

"Inside each dart, there is a liquid capsule. The instant it lands on the target, the liquid will be released and the dart will explode within seconds thus burning anything the liquid touched." He explained as he relaxed his body against the rock. "To kill a robot powered by Lithium, you need to use Lithium."

"Is that why Mazenda is still alive?" She looked over the darts carefully. "Because I used regular bullets?"

"Precisely." Xellos smiled.

"If you knew she was alive, why didn't you kill her that day when you saw her body?"

"She did not interfere with my mission." He said simply and Filia scoffed. Then, she noticed something.

"You gave me three. There are two robots after us, not three."

"Just in case," Xellos chuckled weakly. "You decide to do the right thing."

"The right thing?" She smirked. "You mean when I decide to kill you?"

"Now what will that accomplish?" Xellos's eyes peered opened. "Even if you kill me, other mechanical beings will come after you and Pokota-San." He tilted his head to the side, flashing a very coy smirk. "Unlike my heart of gold, they will have no problem leaving Val-Kun without a mother."

"Then, what are you talking about?" Filia glared since he mentioned her son.

"Did you forget that Pokota-San is a robot too?" Xellos suddenly mentioned. "As long as someone knows the location to our existence, our mission can be achievable." He watched Filia wrap her fingers around the darts. She carefully tucked it into her large pockets and sighed.

"For a robot, who wants to kill all humanity," Filia glared at him coldly. "You are enjoyably trying to save it." She saw him shrug his shoulders and laugh softly.

"Not all humanity, Filia-San." He said with a sly smile. "Just you."

* * *

Closing the door behind him, Zelgadiss walked to the bed in the center of the dark room. He sat down at the foot of the bed and kept his head hung. In his hand, he held the gift that Amelia had given him. His fingers curled around the pink fabric as he stared at the blue jewel. Rubbing it gingerly, Zelgadiss remembered the first time he ever felt feelings for Amelia.

~*~ Flashback ~*~

She was carrying him on her back. Covered in her brown cloak with a black bandanna hiding half his face, Zelgadiss could remember keeping his head buried into the side of her neck, watching through his one eye as his savior walked through the front entrance of Saillune. He was enjoying the unique smell of the young lady when she was suddenly approached by a tall man and a woman of the same height as his young savior. With one of his arms wrapped around her neck and the other dangled against the front of her body, he kept still as she conversed with the two.

"Um…" The redhead spoke first. "Who is that, Amelia?" So, Zelgadiss listened, her name is Amelia. It suited her nicely.

"Please keep your voice down, Lina-San." She said softly. "I think my new friend just fell asleep." He was surprised when she called him a 'new friend' since they didn't know one thing about each other.

"He looks hurt." The man must have seen his condition.

"I found him in the remains of the destroyed power plant."

"You found him, WHERE?" The other woman exclaimed. "Nobody would've survived that explosion!"

"He did though." Amelia began to walk away but Zelgadiss could hear the two following after her. That was when he felt the brown cloak lift off his overcooked back. It was instantly dropped with sharp gasps from both of them.

"L-Sama! Did you even SEE this guy, Amelia?" The woman suddenly stopped Amelia from walking. "He's NOT going to make it! Even a doctor will let him die!"

"He's not going to die." Amelia pouted. "He wants to live."

"Amelia," The man scratched the back of his head. "He looks really bad."

"If he was meant to die, he would've died already." Amelia said with a growl. "I'm going to take care of him and he's going to be just fine, you'll see." Walking past them, she lifted her nose in the air and snorted. "If you may excuse me, I need to take him home so I can make him a big dinner."

"Can we-"

"YOU TWO ARE NOT INVITED." Amelia cut them off and kept walking away. Zelgadiss turned his head so he can look at the two people who wanted him dead. The redhead rolled her eyes and crossed her arms behind her head while the tall man just shrugged his shoulders.

"What a waste of time." The woman said loudly so Amelia can hear her. "I give him 3 days before he croaks." Wincing at her cruel statement, Amelia took in a strong breath of air and kept walking away, her arms circling Zelgadiss's thighs tighten slightly. She lowered her head slightly, looking straight at the ground instead ahead of the road and wept softly. He listened to her soft weeping and for once in his savage life; he felt his own heart weep for another. Not wanting to listen to her terrible cries, Zelgadiss moved his dangling arm closer to her body and grabbed at the extra material of her white dress around her waist. Amelia instantly stopped at his movement and turned her head, she stared back at him with wet eyes.

"Where… home?" He was only able to speak a few words for his throat was still in dire pain. Through her wet eyes came a beautiful smile and it gave him a sudden uneasy feeling for the first time.

"H-Home is where you want it to be." She said with a giggle and the tears quickly vanished. "But for now, I will share my home with you until you make your own." Her kind words did not make it any easier for him so Zelgadiss just turned his head away.

~*~ Flashback ended ~*~

He kissed the present like it was Amelia's lovely face. Pulling the bracelet away from his lips, Zelgadiss lifted his eyes when the rushing water coming from the other room was turned off suddenly. He watched from the foot of the bed and waited for the door to the bathroom to open. Through the crack between the door and floorboards, Zelgadiss could see a slender shadow. The doorknob of the bathroom door turned carefully to the right until it let out a loud click.

The door slowly opened and she froze immediately when she saw him. Zelgadiss stared at the woman standing just a few feet away. They stared at each other intensely. There he was, sitting on her bed like he had been waiting forever for her. Eventually, the woman dropped her eyes to the bracelet in his hand and looked back at his face. Still soaking wet from her shower, Amelia closed the door to her bathroom, never taking her eyes away from Zelgadiss. Slowly, she closed the distance between them and stopped in front of him. Her anger melted when he raised his arms open and begged for her. Releasing the hold on her towel, she quickly stepped between his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck while he buried his head against her beautiful naked abdomen with his arms around her thighs. Zelgadiss closed his eyes when her hands ran through his silver hair and rubbed his face gently on her damp skin.

"Are you sure?" He asked so only she can hear.

"Only you can make my heart flutter." Amelia responded and rubbed her hand down to his neck making him sigh lovingly at her touch. Closing her eyes, Amelia's face grew hot as the warmth of his lips pressed below her belly button. She nibbled on her lower lip each time his lips kissed her tan skin. Soon, he had kissed his way up her abdomen and between her lovely breasts. His lips kept moving up her beautiful skin and his hands rubbed every curve of her body. She was intoxicating to him. The taste of her skin, the feel of her body, the scent of her odor, and the lusty moans that erupted from her lips, she was breathtaking. Feeling greedy, Zelgadiss wrapped his fingers around her waist and pulled her down to the bed, next to him.

A loud gasp left her mouth when he attacked her neck with his tender kisses. His tongue lapped at her skin, yearning for her delicious taste and exhilarating aroma. His hands rubbing up and down her curves, seeking more of her moans when his fingers encircled a particular spot on her body. Amelia held on to Zelgadiss's body tightly. A loud gasp left her lips when his tongue touched her inner earlobe, her entire body jerked and her whines got louder. He was creeping up to her mouth when he stopped just a hairline from her lips. Breathless and wondering why he had stopped, Amelia opened her eyes and saw his hand covering the right side of his face, holding his scars as if it were painful.

"Zelgadiss-San…" She whispered his name with such emotion that he had to look at her. Very slowly, Amelia lifted her hand. He had seen it coming but still winced at the feel of her warm hand on top of his. Drawing him nearer, Amelia gently rubbed the tips of their noses together and smiled wearily.

"P-Please… Let me… see." She began to say with a trembling voice and tried to say more but her tears got in the way. Zelgadiss watched every tear droplet drip from her beautiful eyes and to her chin. He hated seeing such sorrowful tears spilling from her eyes and so, he lowered his hand from his face and planted it on her cheek. The tears continued to spill but her loud sobs stopped when she felt his scars beneath her fingers for the first time. He was letting her touch him. Zelgadiss waited for a frown to form but it never came. Instead, Amelia ran her fingers across his rubbery skin and released a flawless smile that made his own tears to run.

"I love you, Amelia." He told her so softly and carefully, still fearful that she would reject him. Nodding at his confession, Amelia rubbed her hand up his forehead and combed his long bangs away, allowing her to see his entire face.

* * *

The rain had stopped but the chase continued. Filia ran the opposite direction, away from the cave that housed Xellos. She begged her long legs to go faster but it was going as fast as it can. Seeing no other option, Filia dug her fingers into her pants pocket to reach for the weapon but her foot was suddenly caught on an overgrown tree root. She fell face-forward on to the forest floor, the side of her head hitting against a sharp rock. As a soft moan left her mouth, the predator stepped around her fallen body. Looking over her sprawled figure, the robot stopped next to Filia's head and knelt down.

"A waste of creation." Mazenda chuckled lowly and grabbed her prey by her long golden hair, lifting her slightly off the ground to stare upon her face. "Though, I do wonder why he has an interest in your existence."

"H-He…?" Filia opened her eyes slowly and winced when Mazenda's maroon hair encircled around her neck.

"Humanity will be wiped off the face of this planet and technology will be its own master." A cruel smile spread across Mazenda's face. "And that master will be my lord." While Mazenda watched Filia choke, she did not take notice that Filia was adjusting something in her hand. In the middle of her laughter, Filia swung her arm and slammed her fist against the robot's cheek. The hair around her neck tightened but she repeatedly pounded her fists into her face. Eventually, Mazenda's hair had gotten so tight that Filia fell to her hands and choked louder than ever.

"Miscalculations." Mazenda spit a bloody wad at the ground and smirked. "I should have known that you would fight like an animal until the very end." It was then, she heard a soft beeping. Her eyes widen when she recognized the sound and fearfully looked around her body. There, she found it. Embedded deep into her thigh was the dart that Filia had successfully stabbed. The punches were a diversion, something to keep Mazenda's full attention on. The clear liquid had splashed all over her fishnet stockings and lower half. Filia smiled wearily, her face slightly purple.

"Survival to the fittest, bitch." She said coldly just as the beeping stopped. The dart exploded between them, sending both bodies flying apart. Filia landed harshly against a tree, her clothes just slightly charred. However, the robot's entire lower half was lit completely with black flames. A horrible scream echoed the forest as the fire melted through the rubbery skin and attacked her inner mechanics. She raised her hands and watched in horror. The metal had been easily dissolved by the black fire and it attacked the glowing shards of Lithium. The shards quickly turned to coal the second it was touched by the flames and fell immediately to the ground like bird droppings.

"No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed. Her legs were melted away first than the rest slowly rotted to nothingness. By the time the fire got to her chest, the Lithium in her entire body had turned to black and she was dead. Releasing loud dry coughs, Filia hurriedly got rid of the loose hair and lifted her tired body. A large composite of used Lithium and blacken pieces of tiny mechanical parts remained in place of her predator. Filia looked over the large pile of the coal-lookalike and carefully, she picked one pebble from the top. It was already cool to touch.

"This… would make…" She struggled to speak. "A good… vase." Collecting more fragments of the used Lithium into her pockets, Filia was about to leave to continued her search for Pokota when she heard a loud snap of a gun. Groaning loudly, she turned her tall body around to see the end of a Magnum pointed between her eyes.

"Worthless shit." Gaav commented when he saw the remains of his servant. "Never send a robot to do a human's job." His comment made Filia's eyes widen.

"Y-You're… You're a human?" She remembered him taking all those bullets and the grenade to his chest. No human can withstand that! Gaav turned his sights on the woman's shocked expression and smirked.

"Haven't you heard of me, Broad?" He snorted. "I am Gaav, the Chaotic Outlaw." His name made Filia take a step back.

"The… Chaotic Outlaw…" There were stories of this legendary outlaw. The Chaotic Outlaw wandered the land, killing everything he sees for no reason. He murdered wanderers, savages, villagers, anything to spread blood to his name. But those stories were half a century old. If the Chaotic Outlaw was human, he would've died many years ago.

"You liar." Filia accused. "You are not the Chaotic Outlaw. The Chaotic Outlaw is dead."

"You don't believe me?" Gaav smirked and reached for the stash on his coat. Slowly, he untied the stash and let the coat open before Filia's eyes. The bullet rounds were still embedded in his chest so Gaav calmly plunked one off and tossed it to the side. Beneath his skin was a bloody metal shield but no hint of any Lithium shards. There, where a heart would be located, was a square metal plate with a latch. Filia watched with unblinking eyes as he unlatched the lock and opened his chest. Inside was a perfectly beating human heart, thumping against the metal box with wires and blood vessels attached to it. Squirts of blood leaked from the edge of the box and dripped down Gaav's chiseled chest.

"What…" She stared at it with horror. "What are you?"

"I am human and robot, like Xellos." He smiled. She shuddered at the mention of Xellos's name.

"Why would you willingly turn into one of them?"

"To exist forever."

"And yet, you call yourself a human?" She glared at him.

"Unlike other Cyborgs, I acknowledge both roles of my being." He shoved his revolver at the center of her forehead. "The Lithium did not accept my whole being but it did give me eternal life." Filia gulped when he closed the gap between them and rubbed the Magnum harshly against her skin.

"I do not fear death no longer." He whispered icily that it made her eyes shrunk. "Death," Gaav's malice smile spread. "Fears me." Filia squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. He was going to shoot her now and she was going to die. Tense seconds passed until Filia heard the gunshot that she was waiting for except she didn't feel anything at all. All she felt was a soft texture against her cheek that made her blush. Fluttering her eyelids open, she gasped to find Xellos standing in front of her with his damaged chest brushing on her cheek. He had made it in time. Gaav had already blasted the bullet but he did not account of Xellos getting between them and shoving the end of the gun into the air. Gaav and Xellos glared at each other with only a few inches apart.

"Death fears me too." Xellos smiled making Gaav growl irritably. Shoving Filia to the ground, Xellos swung his robotic arm that was in midst of turning into a machine gun. He missed Gaav's head and instead, aimed at him. Releasing rapid large bullets into Gaav's chest, Xellos ignored the rapid flow of blood each time a bullet left his arm. The rounds entered Gaav's skin but did not penetrate through his metal protection. Filia noticed that the blood and the seconds between each round were growing hurriedly. Xellos was losing lots of blood that he was too weak to hold himself up. Filia ran next to him when he fell to his knee, his mechanical arm stopped shooting and smoke was leaving at the end.

"Run." The purple-haired robot whispered.

"B-But…" Filia glanced repeatedly between him and Gaav. "What about you?"

"I said… Run." He gritted his teeth. Filia stared at his painful expression and back at the growing pond of blood near their feet. "LEAVE ME!" Xellos snarled but Filia shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you, Xellos!" Instead of running, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against the back of his neck. Xellos scoffed and looked back at Gaav. The red-haired beast straightened his body and revealed a completely destroyed layer of skin. Beneath the ruined skin, Gaav's metal protection shined like new. Xellos cursed. And he thought he was actually hurting him too. Gaav ditched his ripped trench coat and began stalking over.

"I thought you'd understand where I was coming from, Xellos." He said as he torn away the destroyed fake skin to the ground. "We are the same."

"Last time I checked," Moving his legs so he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, Xellos sighed tirelessly with a smirk. "You were the one who betrayed the Outlaw Four, not I."

"The brotherhood is trying to overrule the world of humans." Gaav snorted. "It won't be much longer until my brothers and sisters consider Cyborgs as human too." Filia squeezed her eyes closed the instant Gaav unsheathed his blade.

"Now, I get it." Xellos chuckled calmly. "Your fear of death had broken the very vow that you had once believed in." His smile widen menacingly. "Hell-Master was right." Gaav winced at the mention of the name.

"Your name brings shame to the brotherhood."

"The moment the Lithium did not accept my body was the moment I forcefully obligated my soul and body to become the under belly of the family." The large man stopped in front of Xellos and placed the tip of his blade next to his cheek. "I hid in darkness and took care of their modest killings with no regrets and protests. Used only for my powers and never considered anything but a servant."

"It was the Outlaw Four who turned their loyalty against me." Gaav snarled. "And they will betray you in the end just like they did to me."

"I knew that when I agreed to be their pet." Xellos stared at Gaav with half-lidded eyes. "But unlike you, I am unafraid of death and I will gladly stick to my loyalties of those mechanical beings."

"I'm disappointed, Xellos." Gaav drew blood from the thin scratch he made on Xellos's cheek. "Together, we could demolish the robot race altogether." He shoved the edge of the blade against his neck.

"We could have used the Lithium that they desperately need against them and make THEM our slaves. But you'd rather serve under them… You insignificant traitorous rubbish."

"I'm a robot, a fully-controlled mechanical thing that believes in nothing but his master's orders." Xellos said without taking his eyes off his foe.

"However," Filia lifted her face from Xellos's shoulder and looked at his serious expression. "I am also a selfish, murderous piece of worthless shit with no remorse when he collects a soul." Xellos paused; he could feel Filia's trembling hand resting on his chest.

"We all have a choice to make." He continued. "I chose a life of obligation, thus it is inevitable that I will die for a completely stupid reason." Xellos grabbed Filia's hand suddenly and caressed her skin, stunning her tremendously.

"And you chose a life of unfaithful desertion and for that decision…" A very happy smile appeared on Xellos's face. "You will die a cruel death." The hammer hit the end of the bullet. Gaav was hit on the side of his body with a deadly blood-red warhead that was the size of a regular bullet. He was flung off his feet and crashed through an abundant of trees until his back slammed against a large boulder. But the powerful missile continued to dig into his metal cadaver. His metal protection got so hot from the repeated grinding that it eventually cracked and broke into half, allowing the missile to enter Gaav's human flesh underneath. He screamed in terrible agony as the endless bullet pierced through his fleshy innards and tried to leave the other side. However, the very thing that secured his life was the thing that was slowly killing him. Unable to leave the metal cage, the tiny red bullet fought its way inside, looking for a way out. Gaav screamed and screamed. He waved his arm and legs wildly, clawing at his metal skin and desperately trying to rip it off. Then, the bullet stopped moving. Instead, it glowed brighter and began to expand. Unlike the old Dragon Slave, the new and improved weapon pushed into the body just until the Lithium has only a little bit of juice and then, it gave a bigger and wider explosion.

"Didn't I tell you?" Lina watched beside Xellos and Filia, she smirked when the bullet released a large explosion with a span and radius of 25 miles. She turned her head to the appalled young robot standing by her side and snickered. "I know what I'm doing."

"Lina…" Filia broke into a breathless smile. "You… You're alive."

"Of course I'm alive." The redhead brought out her brand new weapon from behind and blew the smoke leaving from the end of the barrel. "I'm persistent."

"And you created another weapon of mass destruction." Filia added in a monotone accent that got Lina to continue snickering with great pride. She sighed and looked at Xellos who had his head and body hunched over. Reaching over, she grabbed his shoulder and shook him, calling his name. He didn't register.

* * *

His sweat-covered body continued to thrust his lower half into her. Sweet low moans of pleasure escaped her lips, her body twisting from the intense heat that was building in her privates. There was something developing inside of her belly. It felt funny and confusing. Something she never felt before. Calling his name, she whispered to him what she was feeling and he just moaned in response. She let out a loud yell when he plunged deeper in her, his masculinity pounded harder against her inner walls. The dark-haired tiny woman grabbed his muscular shoulders, pleading him to make it go away. Make the funny feeling go away, she requested. He pressed his lips on her damp neck and lay butterfly kisses up her neck and to her earlobe.

"As you wish, Princess." He growled through his teeth and nibbled on her ear. His hands released her legs and squeezed her milky large breasts. Smashing them against each other and placing his open mouth over her hard nipple, she screeched his name louder and her body got rigid. She jerked under him, a rush of warm comfort overwhelmed her entire body as she hit climax. Just as she was getting comfortable, he was getting started. He picked her off the already soak bed covers and held her as he laid down on the bed instead and put her used body on top of his. The tiny woman drew her head back when he entered her from the new position, this time his manhood felt bigger and it was clear to her that she would not be able to take him all in. He thought otherwise. She cried with big rolls of tears flowing out of her eyes.

"N-No… Stop… I-I-It hurts…" Her toes curled as he kept pulling her down. He took her tight rear end in his hands and pulled her closer. A loud whine erupted from her mouth.

"Y-You're ripping me open!" In a sudden thrust of his hips, he was fully inside of her vagina walls and it was heavenly. Sobbing against his chest, he showered her with soft kisses on her weeping face and caressed her skin like a kitten. He watched through half-lidded eyes as his lover kissed his lips with such desire that it made him blush. She kept her eyes closed each time they kissed, probably because she wanted to feel their passion, rather than to watch like he did. After a while though, he did close his eyes and cupped the back of her head, pulling her closer to his mouth so his tongue can travel deeper into hers. The kiss had taken away the pain and she blushed when he made her sit up. She embarrassingly looked at where their bodies connected, her eyes widen at the scene. Her hymen had broken the instant he entered so her blood and juices covered their genitals.

Was he enjoying this, she wondered. There was her blood and her honey flooding between their bodies, but nothing of his. After a moment of hesitation, she glanced at his face and saw something she never saw before. This new position gave him a greater sight of her fabulous body. His teeth gnawed his lower lip as he watched her large breasts breath in front of him and her pot glistening with his meat inside. It was the most erotic thing he ever saw and he expressed it so by calling her the most beautiful being that he ever laid eyes on. A feeling of hotness developed in her lower belly and she decided to move.

"L-Like," Her body adjusted on top of him making him take a sharp intake of breath. "Like this?" He nodded with his eyebrows curled and his eyes still on their connection. She moved clumsily and slowly, watching his face twist in great pleasure. Unable to withstand the slow ride, he grabbed her hips and quicken the pace, releasing her heavy moan. Bouncing on his penis, he moved his hand and took her large breast. Her body couldn't stop reacting from his rough touch. A squeal left her lips when the man pinched her right nipple. The silver-haired man stopped her from moving and sat up in bed, his lips made contact with hers. She moaned into the kiss and wrapped her strong legs around his waist. Holding onto each other in sitting position, she could feel that funny feeling appearing in her belly again. She told him when their mouth disconnected and he replied that he was getting it too.

"Let's make it go away together." Her voice was hoarse from all the yelling and moaning. He nodded, whispering her name softly and kissing her sweat drenched face. Then as they both reached their limit, Amelia ran her sweet tongue against the scars of Zelgadiss's face. His mouth dropped slightly open, his grip on her body tightened, and his loins twisted from such a sensitive act. Never had he felt such a wondrous feeling before and it was the trigger to release his seed. She screamed his name, her liquid colliding with his. Amelia's body completely went limp, her eyes shut closed for the night and her body completely worn out. Zelgadiss panted breathlessly, still inside of her and holding her for dear life, he dropped backwards on the bed. He smiled to hear his Princess's soft mews and kissed her lovingly on her forehead, welcoming her sleep in his arms and accepting it as well.

* * *

They found the horses nearby. Miraculous that none of them died, Lina brushed her fingers through her horse's mane and sighed in relief. She grabbed the extra weapons that she had brought from the side of her horse and strapped it to her body while Pokota strapped his long bow over his body with his arrows.

"Here, Filia." Lina walked over with Filia's pack of heavy weapons. She stopped behind her crouched figure and watched over her shoulder. Xellos was still sitting up but it was plain to see that he was dead.

"I only said his name once." Filia muttered as she stared at Xellos's pale expression. The tips of her fingertips ran down one side of his face and stopped at his chin. Looking back at Lina, she smiled wearily with wet eyes. "I shouldn't have been so awful."

"It's part of your nature." Lina remarked and it made Filia laugh slightly. Filia took her heavy weapons from Lina and followed her to the horses. She took one last look of the Namagomi and lifted her fingers to the silk black handkerchief tied around her neck. The edges of her lips curled.

"What now, Lina?" Back to business, Filia asked the instant she climbed on her horse's back. "With Xellos dead, more robots will come after us."

"Not 'us'." Pokota corrected but Lina gave him a sudden glare.

"Yes 'us'. As long as you are with us, we're with you." She told him and Pokota nodded with a grateful smile. Lina kicked the sides of her horse and started the ride back to Saillune.

"That big guy isn't the only one like him. More will come to Saillune, probably stronger." Lina muttered. Suddenly, a smirk formed on her face. "I guess the tides have turned." She looked back at Pokota and Filia who was riding behind her. "We're the hunted now."

* * *

Gourry didn't know how far away he was from Saillune but he didn't stop running even when the rain started to fall. It wasn't until his foot got caught in an extending tree root did he fall to the ground and his legs gave up. Instead of getting up from the muddy earth, Gourry remained there with his face pressed against the wet grass. With half-lidded eyes, he watched as droplets of water glide down a sheet of grass near his face. The water pebble left an invincible trail across the green platform like a lover brushing their fingertips against another's skin. The pebble glided unknowingly to the tip and discovered that the only way off was to plunge into the earth below. With no desire to die, the water stayed at the sharp edges, trusting the grass to keep it safe. But it continually grew in weight as more rain followed its trail down the green path. The once-small and adventurous droplet had transformed into a large and reluctant drip over time. Gourry watched it cling to the edge of the grass with all its strength, hoping the grass will pull it up but when the droplet left, the grass bounced in relief that the extra weight was finally gone. Where the water plunged to its death, Gourry gently ran his fingertips along the damp ground.

Like the water, he was traveling down a path in which he believed there was someone besides him. They walked through the many obstacles and came to end of the road. Gourry trusted that another road will open so he waited patiently with his someone next to him. What he didn't know was that someone had left him to walk another path that he was unable to see. Once he found out that he was alone, Gourry knew that there isn't going to be another road for him to take. He had only one option left to take. It was to go over the edge of the path and fall to his death. Getting off the mud, Gourry stood up on his shaking legs and tipped his head to the heavens, allowing the rain to splash his long face. He opened his eyes carefully, blinking often whenever the rain drops landed near his eyebrows. Gourry stared at the grey skies above him and listened to the sounds of low rumbling. He raised his arms and opened his hands to the skies, like he was offering a gift.

"Why?" A simple question that trumped the most intelligent minds, he asked loudly to anybody who was listening. The sounds of the thunder banged above him and a flash of bright lightning clashed. He didn't care of the dangers around him. All he wanted was answers. Glaring at the skies, Gourry shook his head when he saw the clouds form into a shape of a face.

"Even now, after what she did to me…" He snarled. "ALL I SEE IS HER!" Breaking out of position, Gourry grabbed a large boulder from the ground and thrust it to the skies, hoping Lina's face would disappear. He took everything he could find and repeatedly threw it at the grey sky.

"KILL ME!" Gourry screamed with so much anger. "KILL ME SO I DON'T HAVE TO SEE HER AGAIN!" Just as he threw another stone to her face, the dark clouds grumbled and clashed at his abuse, releasing a lightning bolt. Charging where the lightning would hit, Gourry leaped in the air to meet the bolt before it hit the ground. A horrible scream of agony and heartbreak released from his throat when raw electricity ran through his body. It was like being stabbed a billion times in the heart but it wasn't comparable to the pain that Lina gave him. The lightning dumped his numb body to the ground and continued to strike around him.

Gourry did not move. His eyes were slightly opened and turned painfully to the grass nearby his face. There, a water droplet dropped on a piece of a grass and inevitably traveled to the tip. Suddenly Gourry could see the face that he didn't want to see. So close to falling off the edge, he moved his trembling hand in the way and instead of splashing on the ground, Lina landed on his calloused fingers. Even with death on his side, Lina would never leave him. Or, rather, Gourry could never leave Lina. Turning her head to look at him, the redheaded beauty smiled.

"Idiot." She giggled and ran across his empty palm where she ultimately returned to water and joined Gourry's hopeless tears.


	19. Chapter 19 Terrible Sightings

Chapter 19 - Terrible Sightings

It was a vulture. Soaring high above their heads, Pokota stared at the carnivorous bird with nervousness. If he remembered right, the vulture is considered a bad sign. Interpreted as messengers who warn of the terrible forthcoming, it was never good to see one. He watched it a little longer until he heard his name being called.

"You're lucky that humanity needs you, kid. Or else I would've blown your ass into pieces a long time ago." Lina teased when he finally caught up to her and Filia. Pokota said nothing. In the back of his mind, he couldn't make the image of the vulture go away. They were headed back to Saillune for it would be suicide to go into the west without the company of their now-deceased robot guide. The plan was to wait for the Outlaw Four to come to them. Hopefully, they will be just as considerate as Xellos was and if they weren't, hopefully, Lina had a plan for that too. Pokota was unsure though. Wouldn't it be better if they continued into the west and confronted the brotherhood themselves? They didn't need to bother the town of Saillune anymore.

"We need everyone's help." Lina argued. She, Filia, and he only alone cannot withstand the immense power of the Outlaw Four, even with the collaboration of the new and improved Dragon Slave. If they were to continue to the west, they would die. Then, Pokota thought, wouldn't it be better if he just died? His eyes clouded at the thought of his demise. If he died, the secret to the Lithium mines would die with him. So, why didn't Lina suggest that?

"We're home." Filia's voice interrupted Pokota's thoughts. He looked up at the grand entrance of the town of Saillune and briefly at the back of Lina's head. Why is Lina risking Saillune for his sake?

"Home." Lina sighed. The place she was dreading. Now that she was back, she had no choice.

~*~ Flashback ~*~

The bed felt incredible the moment it touched her skin. It's been a long time since she felt another soft material grazing against her and for some reason, Lina did not feel satisfaction. She kept twisting and turning on the bed, trying to find a more comfortable position but it didn't work. So, she sat up and stared at the empty space that was currently next to her. She didn't feel any satisfaction because he wasn't next to her. During their getaway from Zephilia, Gourry was always next to her. Either holding her hand, picking her up from the ground when she fell, his presence never left her. Now, that he had his own room, Lina felt incomplete without him.

It took her all her strength to actually leave her bed but it took her pride and the wall she created around her heart to get out of her bedroom and travel to the end of the hallway where Gourry's room was located. Hesitant, her trembling hand lifted to the wooden door and she held it there just inches away. Just when she was about to rattle her knuckle against the door, it suddenly opened and revealed Gourry's flustered expression. Of course, he stopped instantly when he saw that Lina was in front of him. They stood in front of each other in the dark, staring wide-eyed at each other's faces. It was Gourry who moved his lips first and admitted that he was going to her. Lina asked him why and he replied that he needed her company.

"You Idiot." She blushed wildly and turned abruptly, making her long hair slap against his chest. She walked hurriedly to her bedroom and was in the process of entering when she stopped and looked back at him. He was still standing at his bedroom doorway.

"Well?" She glared at him, making him raise his eyebrow. Scoffing, Lina motioned to her bedroom with her eyes. "Are you coming or not?" Instantly, a large smile formed on his face and he closed the distance between their bodies. There, he gave Lina an unfamiliar look that gave her a shiver down her spine. It was their first night in Saillune and it was also their first night together.

~*~ Flashback ended ~*~

* * *

Gourry returned a different man. Silent and detached, he kept to himself in the workshop of Filia's shop. Occupying himself to pounding a sword out of steel, he spoke to no one. Unfortunately for Amelia, Zelgadiss held her revolver lessons in the workshop so she sat in heavy awkwardness while Zelgadiss and Gourry refuse to speak to one another. Zelgadiss was still angry and requested that she did not talk nor go anywhere near Gourry. She found it hard not to talk to Gourry when she made a promise to Lina but for Zelgadiss's sake and her safety, Amelia didn't go to the workshop unless Zelgadiss was with her.

"Can't I try?" This time, Val decided to come along.

"Not until you read six manuals on how to handle a revolver." Zelgadiss snorted and slapped the back of Val's hand when he was reaching for his revolver.

"Come on, Filia isn't here-"

"And she placed me as your guardian." The silver-haired man snorted and looked over Amelia's shoulders. Val pouted his lips with annoyance.

"Adults are all alike."

"It won't be long until she lets you do it, Val-Kun." Amelia removed her eyes from the revolver in her hands, for a split second, but looked quickly back when Zelgadiss made a sound. The teen just rolled his eyes and mumbled something beneath his breath. He turned his body and spotted Gourry on the other side of the room, pounding hard on the piece of steel. His entire back was wet with sweat and his muscles looked more enlarged than usual.

"He changed." Val muttered, still watching him.

"He changed for the worst." Zelgadiss refuse to look at his ex-best friend.

"It's not his fault, you know." Amelia said, her fingers quickly taking apart the gun.

"He acted irrationally-"

"Because he's heartbroken." Amelia looked up at Zelgadiss's face when she finished taking every piece of her revolver apart. "Put yourself in his shoes for once. Would you be able to bear the loss of your love?" She asked. Zelgadiss stared deeply at her innocent indigo eyes and sighed.

"I wouldn't." He whispered and moved his head down so his lips were near her ear. "But he deserves to spend the rest of his life in hell for what he did to you."

"What about when you broke my heart, numerous times?" She whispered back with a pout.

"Then I will obligate my entire being to fulfill your every request until you pardon the thoughtless actions that I have committed." He said it so elegantly in her ear that it made her blush deeply. Amelia responded by pressing her back against his chest for Val was there and he did not know that they were in love. They moved away instantly when Val turned to face them.

"At least he's working now." He grumbled. "Without a sword, Gourry's useless."

"Gourry-San is a very valuable member in the team. He's irreplaceable." Amelia when she saw Gourry flinch at Val's statement. Val shrugged his shoulders and left the workshop while commenting his disinterest in the matter.

"Come on." Zelgadiss grabbed Amelia's hand when Val left. "Let's go somewhere else."

"But I have to finish my lesson-"

"The rest of the lesson is studying the manuals."

"Won't you ever let me shoot a revolver?" Amelia sighed and allowed him to drag her out the room. They went to his bedroom and locked the door. Spending the rest of the early afternoon next to each other on his bed, Amelia continued her lesson while Zelgadiss tutored her and on occasion, briefly locking their lips together before each chapter. Giggles left Amelia's mouth when she purposely answered a question wrong, making Zelgadiss punish the back of her neck with his lips. And each time she giggled, Gourry swore his heart died a little more each time. He had stopped pounding the steel so he can listen to her open laughter and tried to remember the last time Lina laughed so beautifully like that. He couldn't remember and return to his work.

* * *

Filia sighed in relief to see that the shop was in one piece. The three travelers stepped inside of the shop's front door and smiled to see Val snoring behind the cash register. Releasing a bullet next to his head, they all laughed when the teen sat up instantly and fell off the chair. The gunshot stirred the romance upstairs and Zelgadiss ran quickly down the stairs with his revolver in hand, and without a shirt. He breathed easily to see Lina, Filia, and Pokota and lowered his gun.

"What the hell," Zelgadiss growled and shoved his weapon into its holster. "I thought the shop was being robbed."

"And I'm beginning to think that I walked into the wrong one. Where the hell is your shirt?" Lina pointed.

"I was about to take a shower." He turned around and rushed up the stairs. Amelia passed him in the middle of the staircase and opened her arms wide when she got to the tired travelers.

"Welcome home." She hugged the ladies tightly and made Pokota's mechanical joints squeak from her monstrous strength. Fortunate for him, he didn't feel it but still blushed over the fact that she was holding him and tried to wiggle away. Amelia laughed at his shy demeanor and looked around for the fourth member of the group.

"Where is Xellos-San?" His name created a ghostly silence within the group. Lina and Pokota glanced at Filia. She was still smiling but they could see the slight discomfort on her face.

"Xellos…" Pokota started. "Xellos died at the western border."

"The robot is dead?" Val's eyebrows curled in the middle.

"We encountered the Chaotic Outlaw-"

"The Chaotic Outlaw is dead." Walking back down the stairs with a shirt, Zelgadiss crossed his arms when he got next to Amelia. "He was one of four others who controlled the west and died protecting the region against colonization."

"I don't know what to tell you but," Lina lifted the ends of her shirt and showed off the wound on her abdomen. "He was there."

"That's impossible. He couldn't be alive… unless-"

"He was a robot." Amelia finished. "But that technology never existed half a century ago."

"That's because him and this so-called brotherhood, the Outlaw Four, were the first to create it." Filia glanced at everyone's faces. "When Lina and I fought against him, we were no match to his strength. Even Xellos," She flinched from the foreign word. "He wasn't able to kill him and died trying too."

"How did you get out of there?"

"With this." Lina slammed the new and improved Dragon Slave on the counter. Amelia and Val's eyes widen while Zelgadiss just raised his eyebrow. "I incorporated active Lithium with the Dragon Slave and it killed that fucking bastard like the insect that he was."

"Where did you get Lithium?" Val asked. Lina hesitated so Pokota stepped forward.

"The fact is Lina killed the Chaotic Outlaw and with Xellos dead, it would be suicide to continue onward to the west."

"So you came back to Saillune, knowing full-well that robots are hunting after you, endangering the people here?" The anger in Zelgadiss's voice began to build.

"What else could we have done?"

"Kill the robot." His grey eyes switched to Pokota. "With Pokota gone, the robots won't be able to locate the Lithium mines and will eventually die off."

"When the robots find out that we killed the very thing that holds their livelihood, what do you think they will do to us?" Lina went in front of Pokota, blocking his glare. When Zelgadiss didn't say anything, she snorted loudly and looked at the others. "Besides, with Pokota, we've got the advantage."

"What kind of an advantage?" Amelia asked timidly since the very thought of the robots demolishing Saillune had frightened her greatly.

"To kill a Lithium-powered robot, you need to use active Lithium and Pokota is the only one who knows the location of the Lithium mines." She turned around to face him.

"He can tell us where it is and we can use it against them." Pokota's eyes widen at her statement. He noticed the others staring at him too and took a hesitant step back.

"It's up to you, Pokota." The Bandit Killer grabbed his tiny shoulder before he moved further back. "You can tell us where the Lithium is and we can kill them-"

"Or we can always force it out of you." Zelgadiss remarked behind her, flashing his revolver on his belt, only to have Amelia elbow him in the ribs.

"Don't be mean, Zelgadiss-San." She grumbled and Zelgadiss just rolled his eyes. Pokota looked away from Zelgadiss's stern figure and at Lina, who was still holding onto him. Could this be why Lina was risking the people of Saillune? Because there was still use of him? If that is so, what is she going to do when he's all used up? Is she going to kill him then?

"Well?" Lina raised her eyebrow. "What's it going to be?"

* * *

Gourry pulled his trench coat over his body and quickly grabbed his hat. He walked swiftly across the workshop to the back door that leads to the back of the building. Just when he stepped outside, Lina and the others were walking in through the other door. Lina saw the ends of his coat tails for a brief second until the back door disconnected their union. She didn't join the rest of the group around the large metal table in the middle of the room; instead, she walked to the once-occupied space at the dark corner where an unfinished sword was mounted against a steel brick. Lina stood in front of the unrefined piece of long steel and picked it up carefully. This was Gourry's work and judging from the thickness, he only just started.

"The closest one would be located here." Pokota drew a circle on the wide map that Amelia provided him. He continued to draw more circles around the map and paused just when he was drawing another one.

"Even if I tell you where the location is, I wouldn't be able to tell you how to handle active Lithium." He mentioned and looked up at everyone's faces.

"Not a problem." Zelgadiss reached into his pocket and took out the black journal that he had actively been reading this departing Joe's mansion. "I picked this off a scientist who handled Lithium before. He wrote everything he learned about Lithium in this book."

"Don't tell me that you knew in advance that Lithium robots can only be killed by Lithium." The tall blonde woman next to him slightly glared.

"I didn't get to that part of the journal until you left for the west and I doubt that sending a messenger would have been necessary since, by that time, you would've already killed Mazenda."

"Now, now," Amelia could see the growing anger in Filia's eyes. "Let's continue with the plan."

"Right." Val, the young strategist, agreed and grabbed a spare pen from the table. "Zelgadiss and Pokota can retrieve the Lithium since Zelgadiss seems to be the only one who can handle the dangerous substance. Filia and I can start drawing blueprints for brand new weapons and Lina is going to assist us for she is the only person who has experience with Lithium."

"And what about Amelia-Chan?" Amelia bounced next to him with a big smile.

"Well…" He noticed Zelgadiss's evil eye and chuckled wearily. "Well, someone needs to look after the shop-"

"Zelgadiss-Saaaaaaaaaaaan!" She immediately turned around and glared at him. "I CAN HELP-"

"You have no experience in metal work, no intellect in building weapons, and absolutely no skills in handling raw dangerous materials." Zelgadiss quickly listed off.

"And you are the Mayor's daughter, Amelia." Filia told her with her arms crossed. "Phil will have a heart attack if he learned that I let you near explosive materials."

"Oh! Curse my relations with the Mayor!" A large pout formed on her face and her foot stomped on the ground, Amelia twisted her thin arms together and pulled her shoulders up to her ears. "I GUESS I have NO choice but to look after the shop and do NOTHING."

"Good and while you are doing nothing, can you make inventory of our merchandise? I would like to know how much I would need to make for the upcoming month. And when you are done with that, I believe we are almost out of clay so can you buy some more from Tarim-San?" Her boss delightfully asked with a happy smile, making Amelia sigh in defeat.

"Yes, ma'am." Grabbing a clipboard from the shelf, Amelia sadly left the room with her head hung and her feet dragging. Zelgadiss looked at Filia.

"You're enjoying her misery more than I am."

"Not as much as you are." She smiled innocently, in which Zelgadiss smirked. Lina was still looking over the unfinished sword until she heard the door closing and turned her head in time to see Zelgadiss and Pokota leaving the room.

"Wait!" She rushed after them and grabbed Pokota by the ends of his long Mohawk. Although it did not hurt him, she made him drop to the ground and land in a pile of horse excrement. "Get me a deposit from the diamond and tungsten mine."

"YOU FLAT-CHESTED MONKEY!" Pokota screamed. "THERE IS HORSE SHIT ON MY CLOTHES!"

"How much?" Zelgadiss sighed while Lina launched a fist into Pokota's face, shutting him up immediately.

"I need enough tungsten to make a sword and enough diamond to create a sharp edge on that sword." She told him. Zelgadiss stared at Lina's unfaltering expression and snorted.

"If you think that making a sword will win back his idiot heart-"

"I'm not trying to win back his heart." Lina quickly said. The two continued to stare at each other intensely while Pokota tried to inflate his face. Finally, Zelgadiss snorted.

"I'm not getting in the middle of your lover's quarrel."

"I'll get you a pair of Amelia's underwear."

"That won't be necessary." Zelgadiss smirked for he remembered what he had done the night before and how soon he will be getting it again.

"FINE." The redhead rolled her eyes to the back of her head as Zelgadiss walked away. "But you just lost your opportunity to get her panties, pal. Her sweet-smelling panties that many perverted men would buy for a minimum of $245." Zelgadiss had made it to the side of his horse when he quickly turned around and glared at Lina.

"WERE YOU THE ONE WHO WAS SELLING HER UNDERWEAR LAST YEAR?"

"I USED to sell her underwear until someone exposed me. Besides, how the hell do you know that her panties were on sell? I never told you." Caught by surprise, Zelgadiss hurriedly climbed on his horse and ordered Pokota to do the same. Snickering now, Lina hopped over to Zelgadiss and grinned.

"How did you like your panties, customer number 108? Or is it customer number 349, the one who ordered the white cotton underwear with cartoon designs on it?" When he didn't say anything, Lina snickered some more.

"Don't worry, Zel, I won't tell her if you get my diamond and tungsten." Her grin made his stomach clench.

"You are a sick individual."

"I heard better from your supplier." Lina remarked loudly since he and Pokota began to ride away. She turned to walk back to the building until a ray of sunlight shined straight into her eyes, blinding her for a few seconds until she raised her hand to block it. The sun was out that afternoon and plagued everyone of a beautiful day. Lina sighed and lowered her hand after shutting her eyes. The rays of the sun felt warm against her body today, just like it did that other day.

~*~ Flashback ~*~

They loudly expressed what a beautiful day it was. Lina turned her head to the side and smiled to see Gourry lying next to her on the open field. His eyes were shut and arms crossed behind his head. He looked completely at peace. Lina didn't want to disturb his peace however, she couldn't stand not being close to him so she moved and placed her head on his chest. His eyes widen instantly at the sudden act and stared at her slightly blushing face. She always had a hard time expressing her feelings so she tried to tell him through her actions. She kept still until he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. Moving her face fully on top of his chest, Lina released a comfortable sigh. Now, both of them were at peace until Filia walked over to tell them to get back to work, making Lina furiously embarrassed and slap Gourry on the face for being so close to her.

~*~ Flashback ended ~*~

* * *

Sitting alone behind the bar, Gourry watched the ice cubes in his glass mug melt while Zangulas sat on the other side, drinking from his own glass and complaining about his marriage.

"So, to make a long story short," The bartender sighed after gulping down his entire beverage and slamming the empty glass on the wooden table; Gourry kept watching his ice cubes. "That foul-mouth gypsy wench accused me of cheating and kicked ME out of MY house, just because I told her that she misplaced my cleaning clothes."

"At least you don't get to see her every day." Gourry muttered.

"Right." Zangulas snorted and tipped his crooked hat up to meet with Gourry's eyes but the blonde didn't look up. "She comes here twice a day to check up on me. Puts a finger under my nose while I sleep to see if I'm breathing." Grabbing his empty glass, Zangulas refilled it to the rim and lifted it to his lips.

"Gypsy wench is going to be the death of me."

"You could have a divorce." The taller man mentioned. When Zangulas removed his mug from his mouth, Gourry was now looking at him; waiting for an answer. And Zangulas gave it to him.

"My marriage with that gypsy wench is filled with headaches, screams, and constant fighting. Literally." Zangulas nodded, agreeing silently to what his own words. "But," He pointed to the sky with his index finger, wagging it just a little. "My marriage with sweet Martina is, without a doubt, still filled with devotion, loyalty, and love. Lots and lots of love." Again, he nodded to what he had said and gave out a heavy sigh.

"My friend, love is a double edge dagger and unfortunately, one side is sharper than the other."

"You and me both, my friend." Gourry snorted and picked his beer off the counter. As he drank, the swinging doors of the tavern split open and a woman in a light purple corset dress with sleeves that cut off at her elbows. She had straight beautiful navy hair that made fingerless gentlemen swoon for a touch and had very curvy womanly parts for her height. Zangulas saw her first and smiled immediately at the sight of this beautiful woman as she was in the process of taking off her matching Victorian hat.

"Hello Zangulas-San." It took Gourry a few seconds before recognizing that voice and turned quickly in his stool. The beautiful woman smiled sweetly at him. "And hello to you too, Gourry-Sama."

"Sylphiel." He said her name and broke into a smile. Sylphiel blushed deeply and embarrassingly looked to her hands. "What, um, what are you doing here? Weren't you in Sairaag, taking care of your father?" Although his memory comes and goes, Gourry always seemed to remember Sylphiel. The smile on Sylphiel's face did not move and she softly mentioned that her father had passed away from an illness.

"I'm sorry…" It was the only thing Gourry could think of saying. He got off his stool and went to her side, pulling her into his strong arms for a supportive hug.

"It is not your fault, Gourry-Sama." Sylphiel kept on smiling and blushing. "You didn't have anything to do with father's death."

"I'm still sorry that I brought it up."

"You don't have to be. And besides," Pushing out of the comfort of his arms and yet staying real close, she giggled with charm. "It's a brand new chapter in my life. I sold the family business and made a deposit on a farm in the South."

"A farm?" Zangulas had stepped around the counter and joined the two. "I could hardly believe it when my team member told me that she was giving up hunting, but now, she's turning into a farmer! Are you going to be growing wheat or bullets in this farm?"

"Don't tease me, Zangulas-San." Sylphiel welcomed his hug and shared a friendly kiss on the cheek. "And don't be silly! I was never good at bounty hunting like Lina-San." The mention of her name made Gourry wince and he immediately turned away. Zangulas had noticed and grabbed Sylphiel's attention before she could say anything more.

"What are you doing here?"

"Like I mentioned, I'm moving to the South and it so happened that I lost my way and-"

"Don't tell me that you got lost by trusting your rifle again?" He asked with a sigh and only sighed more when Sylphiel nodded. "Shooting a bird in the air and choosing the path where it lands closest to will only get you more lost, Sylphiel."

"Well," Sylphiel giggled lightly and looked around the dimmed tavern. "It did lead me back to Saillune." Zangulas just shook his head and offered her a free drink.

"Thank you for the offer but I only came for a short visit and a map. I really need a map."

"Don't bother with the map." The barkeep stuck his thumb to the direction where Gourry was standing. "Gourry can show you the way to the main road-"

"Z-Zangulas-San!" Immediately getting red, Sylphiel pulled down his thumb and pouted at him. Unfortunately, Gourry had already seen it and was walking over unbeknownst to her. "Please, do not embarrass me! It's one thing when you and Martina-San tried countless times to set me up with him but it's another thing when you continue to do so when he already has someone!" When they were still a team, Sylphiel had the pleasure of her comrades constantly matching her and Gourry together, due to the fact that she was deeply in love with him. And still is.

"I-I am fine with just a map." She said with much confidence and Zangulas snorted.

"You can't read maps."

"Well," Sylphiel lowered her nervous eyes. "I don't want to b-bother Gourry-Sama-"

"You're not bothering me." Gourry suddenly mentioned next to her that it made her jump. "I'll escort you to the main road."

"R-Really?" Her eyes widen at his statement.

"Just let me have lunch first and I'll take you."

"Of course, Gourry-Sama!" Sylphiel clapped her hands excitedly and bounced. "A-And to show my appreciation, let me pay your meal." When the two finally left the tavern, Zangulas returned to his place behind the counter and wondered if he did the right thing to let Gourry go with Sylphiel. Gourry's heart needed mending and to bring him together with Sylphiel, a woman madly in love with him, would only result in devastation. Zangulas could already see the outcome. Gourry will ignore the great love that he has for Lina and pursue Sylphiel with false affection. Thus in the near future, he will have to decide between the woman he truly loves or the woman who healed and gave his love back. Taking a last sip of alcohol, the hat-wearing barkeep shrugged his shoulders and hoped Gourry wasn't a bigger Idiot than he truly was. And if he was, well, at least their last conversation together didn't end with a challenge.

* * *

After she paid for lunch, Gourry kept his promise and lead Sylphiel to the correct main road just outside of Saillune. She thanked him for being a gentleman and was just about to climb into her carriage when Gourry stopped her.

"Excuse me?"

"I said," Gourry cleared his throat in case she couldn't hear him for the second time. "Are you happy without hunting in your life?" She stared at his serious expression before returning to his side on the road and smiling.

"I am."

"But you told me that you loved hunting." He mentioned. "So why did you quit?"

"Well…" Sylphiel tilted her head to the side. "To tell you the truth, I quit because I loved it too much."

"You… loved it too much?" Gourry questioned confused-like. She nodded and released a soft giggle.

"I saw what hunting was doing to my life and it made me fearful. I wasn't able to sleep at night without my rifle in my hands and it got to the point where the sight of a corpse did not affect me like a normal person would." Sylphiel stopped for a second to look deep into Gourry's bothered eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

"I quit because I didn't want to continue to love killing people and feeling cold steel against my skin. I wanted to take control of my heart and lead it to a path where I know was better for me." She dropped her eyes to where her hands were nervously stroking each other.

"Do you… understand, Gourry-Sama?" Gourry nodded slowly for it took him awhile to process things in his head compared to everyone else. He saw Sylphiel's nervous hands and smirked. He remembered always noticing her shaking hands when she was working alongside of him and thought she was cold. Now, he realized that she wasn't cold. It was unusual that he only realized that now and not when she was still living in Saillune. And it was more unusual that for once in his life, he felt free to make his own decisions despite anybody else. He was free and so he made a decision that he believed would separate Lina from his thoughts.

"May I join you in the South?"

* * *

It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be true. Lina sprinted through the building like a desperate animal running after his first meal in days. She literally flew up the stairs and skidded in the hallway. His door was open and there were already people in there, shouting.

"LEAVING? Why on L-Sama are you LEAVING?" Filia paced behind the crouched man, he was stuffing his clothes into a pack. "And for the SOUTH? Why the SOUTH? Aren't you wanted there?"

"I'll avoid them." Gourry muttered in a low tune.

"This is highly unreasonable, Gourry-San." Amelia ran her fingers through her hair and gripped against the back of her neck in frustration. "Saillune could be under attack in a moment's notice and you're just going to leave? What about the people here? What about fighting for justice? What about-"

"It is none of my concern." He quickly said and tied his pack closed.

"None of your concern?" Amelia repeated quite angrily. Her eyebrows curled in the middle and her lips turned upside down. "Innocent people are going to lose their lives and it's none of your concern?"

"My only concern is my life and where it's going-"

"I'll gladly tell you where it's going! It's going straight to hell!" The young lady stomped her foot against the hardwood. She was going to say more but Filia grabbed her arm and pulled her back, registering to her that she needed to leave. Amelia scoffed at Gourry and left the room, passing Lina without a glance. Shortly after her, Zelgadiss removed himself off the wall and headed straight to the door.

"Don't plan to ever come back." He finally spoke to Gourry just before leaving.

"I'm not planning too." Gourry said and grabbed the last of his parcels. Unable to convince him to stay, Filia and the others followed Zelgadiss out and left Lina alone with Gourry. Gourry turned around to grab his hat from the bed stand when he saw Lina standing in the doorway. Strapped across her back was a long covered item but that didn't catch his eye. It was the dangling engagement ring around her neck that made him stare at her. Lina saw him looking and lifted her hand to it. She wrapped her bruised and blistered fingers around the jewelry and with a sudden tug, broke the chain.

"Let me apologize one more time for the terrible actions that I have done." Lina started. "I had sex with another man." Gourry's entire body fidgeted. Breathing heavily now, Lina lowered the hand that held the ring above her heart. "But, of all the most terrible things I've done, breaking your heart was the worst."

"If you are leaving Saillune because of me, I understand. Leave me and live the rest of your life with someone else." Lina began to walk to him and when she got in front of him, her expression twisted in anger.

"But know this," She shoved the fist with the ring against his chest hard and growled. "You leave and those fucking robots will come for our destruction. You leave and this is the last fucking time you're going to see everyone alive. You leave and abandon Saillune, humanity isn't going to last very long." Dropping the ring from her hand, Lina and Gourry kept staring at each other as the jewelry hit between their feet.

"How long will you keep running away from reality before it strikes you on your fucking ass?" Lina growled. "I'm going to stay here and I'm going to fight until the very end. And if I die, I'm glad that I won't be anywhere near your traitorous ass."

"I wasn't the traitor in the first place-"

"No, you weren't! But what's the fucking difference what order who betrayed who?" She snapped. "I betrayed you and you are betraying innocent lives that have nothing to do with you and I or the robots that are going to kill them."

"This is our quarrel, not theirs. Don't let people die because you and I can't stand to be near each other anymore." The redhead took a few steps back. "Don't make yourself go through with the immense pain when you see how much you are worth here in Saillune and how much we needed you. Don't make yourself go through that, Gourry!"

"I don't care." Gourry's voice overcame hers and it got quiet in the room. Finally, Lina reached behind her and grabbed the covered item that was strapped on her back. She held it in her hands with so much anticipation until dropping it to the floor, where the cloth had pulled to the side and showed off the elegant tungsten sword handle.

"You suck at making swords." She commented. "I made this for you because I was still in love with you."

"I don't want your love."

"That's not why I'm giving it to you." Lina scoffed lightly. "I'm giving it to you so you can protect someone else like how you protected me, with all your heart." She took a heavy sigh and released the water from her eyes. "I'm giving it to you because you deserve to be with someone who is worth protecting and who deserves all the love that you once given me."

"I don't want-"

"I'm giving this sword to you," The redhead unclogged her throat and looked at him with intensity. "Because I don't want to love you anymore." Repeating the same words that he said to her before, Lina bent down swiftly and picked off the ring that she dropped between their bodies.

"I'm going to hold onto this for the same reason that you are going to take the sword with you," She clenched the solid mass in her hand. "Because both of us know that deep in our hearts, we belong to one another."

"Leave Saillune, Gourry Gabriev." Lina told him as she turned around to leave. "This town died when our hearts died."

* * *

Pokota watched from the front porch of the shop. Out of the six, he was the only one who could bear watching the master swordsman leave. The robot stepped off the steps and watched the horse-pulled carriage ride away with Gourry. Next to him, the beautiful woman held the reins of the horse and was smiling like a fool. She had no idea that she just ruined Saillune's chances. Finally looking back at the shop, Pokota saw that the rest of the team was watching him leave through the window. Could this be what the vulture had foretold? Was this the terrible forthcoming? He hoped it was, but knew that it was highly unlikely. After this day, Pokota knew that the human race will be rapidly heading to annihilation.


	20. Chapter 20 Gypsy Bound

Chapter 20 - Gypsy Bound

Filia wiped the collected sweat across her brow using her damp forearm. She smiled at the clunky weapon in front of her that she spent all her hard work on that past week. Next to her, Lina was crouched near the fire, in the process of melting the last of the Lithium. After Gourry left Saillune, there was no sudden change in Lina. Perhaps she was blocking her emotions for Saillune but the abandonment of her lover had no effect on her. For Filia, however, she couldn't understand why Gourry would leave so suddenly for nobody had told her what had happened between Lina and him. And whenever she did ask, everyone would mutter something inaudible and walk away like it was blasphemy.

"I'm taking a break." Filia took off her safety mask and lowered her equipment. The redhead just nodded in response. Taking a long look at Lina's nonchalant expression, Filia shrugged her shoulders and left the workshop. She will ask Lina herself what had happened between her and Gourry when the time is right. When in the middle of getting a drink of water, Filia turned swiftly around at the sound of fast footsteps running past the kitchen doorway.

"Val?" Filia spotted the ends of green hair and called after him but jumped when the front door slammed extremely loud. The worried mother took a step out of the kitchen and turned her head to where Val was running from. In the back where Filia made her vases, Zelgadiss and Amelia were sitting next to each other on stools and were in the middle of the revolver lesson. She peered inside and realized what had Val so upset. So, she followed after him to the front porch and sat next to him. They sat there in silence at first until Filia reached over and touched the ends of his green hair in the back.

"You need a haircut." She gently ran her fingers through it. "Or are you still planning to grow it?" The teen didn't answer. He kept staring at the ground.

"Stupid boy." Filia suddenly slapped the back of his head, hoping it would trigger something. Val just kept quiet. Aggravated now, she crossed her arms and gave him a very angry pout.

"You knew this was going to happen sooner or later." Filia scolded and Val sighed sorrowfully. "And you know that they were in love since the day they met." A bigger frown developed on his face for it was true. "So, stop being a stupid boy and be a stupid man."

"I AM a man." Val glanced at her with fierce eyes.

"Then get over it."

"I can't get over her-"

"You got over Sylphiel fairly quickly." It got quiet again but at least they were looking at each other. Val's eyes slightly winced when he heard Amelia's soft whine and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Were they really kissing?"

"Yes." Filia answered truthfully.

"That would mean they are together, right?"

"It appears so." She said truthfully again. Val released a loud and heavy sigh. He stretched his legs and arms out and made himself comfortable on the hard porch.

"Looks like I have no other choice but to wait for her."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes." Val nodded. Filia sighed next to the hopeless romantic and moved closer to him. She wrapped her arm around his thin shoulders and laid her puckering lips on his cheek.

"If you want me to be a stupid man, then why do you keep kissing me like a stupid boy?" He snorted as she kissed his cheek.

"Because you are never going to change, stupid boy." Filia remarked and was suddenly disturbed by a loud explosion at the other end of Saillune. They stood up from the porch immediately and saw the dark smoke erupting from the top of the buildings and houses. Shortly, Zelgadiss and Amelia joined them outside and they all stared at the black smoke with wide eyes.

"Is it the robots?" Amelia asked fearfully just when Lina and Pokota burst through the front door. Lina licked her quivering bottom lip and turned away from the dark cloud to look at her team.

"We need to protect Pokota at all cost." She told them and gave the robot a hard look before he could say anything. "Val, take Pokota and hide him where nobody can find him. Don't come out until we come find you."

"But I can fight-"

"You heard the Killer." The teen grabbed the robot by the bicep and dragged him away to the back of the shop, ignoring his screams of protest.

"Amelia and Filia, meet with Phil and start a town evacuation." Lina instructed quickly. "Take them into the woods and join Zel and I afterwards. We need all the help we can get to kill these robots."

"I guess we're out of retirement." Standing nearby, Zangulas smirked with his sword strapped at his hip and wearing only his black pants and boots.

"I believe we were forced to quit because someone was jealous of my beauty, Darling." Next to the barkeep, a woman in a multi-layer cream-colored chiffon long skirt and a matching chiffon bra with gold chain straps had her arms crossed over her chest. Lina didn't have to turn around to see who this woman was and loudly groaned when she heard the gold belly chain that was wrapped thrice around the woman's shapely abdomen hit each other.

"Please tell me," She looked at Filia with a growing angry vein. "It's not HER."

"How dare you, Lina Inverse!" The sweet foul-mouth gypsy wife of Zangulas rushed over and barked at the back of Lina's head. "HOW DARE YOU ASSOCIATE MY GREATNESS WITH AN INSULT! I AM MARTINA-"

"BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!" Lina turned to face her. "You don't have to keep telling me who you are every time we see each other, gypsy princess. Are you going to help us or not?"

"Are you asking or are you begging?" Martina stuck her nose in the air with a smirk.

"Which one involves me ripping the studs off your nipples?" The redhead asked.

"Fine." The woman abruptly turned her body making her curly turquoise hair hit against Lina's fuming expression. "But this time, I'm not going to let you off the hook."

"Whatever." Lina rolled her eyes and was reminded of the dire situation when another explosion went off. Amelia and Filia raced to the town's capital, where a large crowd of people were gathered and the Mayor was instructing everyone to remain calm. While the rest the opposite direction from the fleeing town's people. When they got closer to the source of the commotion, large groups of men and women shoved them against the side of the buildings as they tried to run past in desperation. All of them cried and screamed about ogres and trolls.

"Ogres?" Lina and Zelgadiss exchanged confused looks. Picking themselves off the ground and walls, they joined Zangulas and Martina around the corner and what they saw stopped them immediately in their tracks. Hunched over on the ground was a man in tattered clothing with his back towards them. However, ripping out of his skin was silver stalagmite spikes everywhere on his upper body and when the four stopped behind him; he moved at the sudden noises and turned his head over his shoulder. His mouth was covered in red sauce and eyes were the color of cold steel. Baring coated teeth of blood, this 'man' stood up from the ground and faced them with an expression of hunger.

"Holy fuck." Zangulas voiced. Next to this unknown entity, laying opening and sprawled in pieces, were the remains of a young woman. The thing released a screeching sound from the back of his throat and three other of its kind looked up from their meal. Each creature had different shaped silver spikes ripping out of their bodies but they were all interested in human meat.

"Why is it," Zangulas and Martina noticed the creatures gathering behind them and pressed their backs against Lina and Zelgadiss. "You guys are always involved in fucking messed-up shit?"

"It's not our faults that we're important." Lina loaded her revolver with bullets calmly while Zelgadiss and Zangulas simultaneously unsheathed their swords. Martina turned her lime eyes as she spotted more creatures walking over and reached for her two long Sais on her belt. The red head scoffed when she heard the trinkets on Martina's belly chain clank. "Wearing another one of your ridiculous outfits, huh, Martina?"

"This is a ceremonial dance garment, for your information. And my Darling husband and I were in the middle of our love ritual when this nuisance came about." The gypsy glanced at Zangulas with a sly smile and Zangulas just blushed.

"L-Sama, is that why you are half-naked?" He didn't answer. "You couldn't spend a second to put on a shirt, man? Nobody wants to see your love bites on your chest!"

"GET YOUR MIND OUT THE GUTTER AND FOCUS ON THE JOB, RED!" Zangulas barked at Lina. "And that goes for you too, gypsy wench." He snorted towards with wife and Martina just giggled.

"Call me that again, Darling, and you're going to be punished."

"You're the one who's going to be punished." Zangulas smirked and leaned slightly towards her. "Long and vigorously."

"Oh, Zangy…" His wife sighed with hearts in her eyes. She hugged her sais against her beating chest.

"Look, can we just get on with the job?" Zelgadiss loudly asked; he and Lina were trying to stop the vomit from coming out of their mouths. The two lovebirds gave each other a final loving look and returned to the creatures coming closer to them.

"How should we approach this, Red?" Zangulas asked when the tip of his sword was just inches from touching one of the creatures.

"Kill them until there is nothing left." The Bandit Killer pulled back the hammer of her revolver and aimed it at the closet monster on her left. She was about to pull the trigger when she saw noticeable features.

"Doesn't he look familiar?" She nudged to Zelgadiss but he shook his head. "The blacksmith." Lina pointed at the familiar tattoo that the local blacksmith had etched on his bicep. "That's him."

"What?" They all turned to look but the creatures suddenly lunged forward.

"DON'T KILL THEM!" Lina screamed as she broke away from her comrades and kicked a snarling creature at the side of his head. "THEY'RE THE TOWN'S PEOPLE!"

"WHAT?" Martina blocked a monster's reach by cutting off a few of his fingers.

"DON'T KILL THEM!" She repeated and yelped when a monster tried to grab her face.

"THEN, WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO?" Zangulas held off five creatures with the use of his sword. "LET THEM KILL US?"

"NO!" Lina stopped Zelgadiss from releasing a gunshot. "WE'RE FALLING BACK!"

"WHAT?" Zangulas and Martina barked surprisingly. Even Zelgadiss looked at her strangely.

"FALL BACK!" She shouted and began to run through the creatures, stabbing them carefully on their bodies where it was not life-threatening.

"Fuck." Zelgadiss cursed and followed her out. For Zangulas, he had to have Martina pull him out of there for he was reluctant to leave the monsters free to roam. They all managed to flee the monsters by hiding between the dark alleyways of buildings and climbing along the side of one to get to the roof. They watched from their safe location as a large number of creatures formed around the building and walked aimlessly looking for them.

"Okay, Red," Zangulas turned his glare at the redhead. "What now?"

"We can't kill them." She told him instantly. "Those monsters are our neighbors. We can't kill them-"

"So we're just allowing them to roam around the town?" Martina pointed to a creature that had just caught a fleeing woman. "Let them eat the rest of the people?" Lina watched as other monsters gathered around the screaming woman and began to rip her body into pieces with their spikes and dull fingernails.

"No." She said finally. "But we can't kill them."

"Are you suggesting that we trap these things?" Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow.

"There could be an antidote."

"That's ironic even for you, Lina Inverse." A woman spoke loudly behind the four. They all turned around with their weapons ready in their hands and saw a young female. Dressed in a metal-plated vest and shoulder blades, she had on a skin-tight blue short-sleeve shirt underneath and black skinny pants tucked into metal armored boots, she had navy hair that was collected in a long single braid. Judging from the severe damage on her armor, she was an experienced warrior. The woman stared at Lina with a confident smirk.

"What do you mean?" Lina kept her revolver aimed at the stranger who already knew her name.

"There are man-eating monsters running around your town." Toying with the end of her braid, the unknown female paced to the left side of the roof and looked over the edge. "And you'd risk more lives just to ensure if there is a cure for these monsters." She chuckled and her smile widen.

"Xellos was right." The mention of Xellos made Lina and Zelgadiss wince. "You are quite the character. It's no question that you would make a profitable robot."

"I'd rather die than become a piece of metal." Lina scoffed.

"How rude." The woman swiftly turned around making her armor clank loudly against each other. "But I guess you have every reason to call us that."

"Don't tell me you're a robot." Zangulas looked over the fine woman with curled eyebrows. "When did robots start looking like actual human beings?"

"When foolish scientists started incorporating dangerous materials to their experiments." Zelgadiss turned his eyes to the edge of the roof. He could hear the monsters clawing against the side of the buildings, trying to climb up. "Lina."

"I hear them." She said loudly. "Take Zangulas and Martina, and lure the monsters away from the surviving townspeople. Try to think of a way to trap them." Lina reached into her back pouch and took out a sack.

"I don't want any more death, Zel." She tossed the black sack to him and smirked. "However, use these if things get out of hand."

"What about you?" Zangulas glanced between her and the strange woman. "You got this?"

"Don't you know who I am?" Lina glared at him slightly. With that said, Zangulas and Martina followed Zelgadiss off the roof and left her alone with the stranger.

"Do you really think I'm that easy?" The woman chuckled as she removed her metal gauntlets and threw it to the side. Lina watched her fingers gathered together and turned into slick metal swords. Like Xellos, this robot could transform her arms into deadly weapons. She clashed her arm swords together and it let out a perfectly beautiful chime. When the echo faded away though, Lina and the woman were already slashing at one another. To Lina's advantage, the woman's heavy armor made her movements easy to dodge. However, she knew that she could not dodge her attacks forever. They broke apart when Lina kicked the robot square in the chest, launching herself a few feet away. She landed near the edge of the roof while the other woman flawlessly stood up.

"I don't like putting blank tombstones on graves." Lina suddenly commented. "What's your name?"

"I am known as General Sherra." The female elegantly bowed to the redhead.

"Are you one of the sisters of the Outlaw Four?"

"My loyalties belong to second elder brother, Supreme King Dynast Grausherra." Sherra explained with such pride.

"Supreme King." Lina scoffed and began to release bullets at Sherra's chest plate. "For a King, he's not so creative in creating names, is he?" Sherra cut the bullets in half with her arm blades and jumped into the air when Lina ran out of bullets.

"You will regret insulting my lord." The robot launched her right sharp arm at Lina's face, in which was dodged easily and swing her left arm at her neck. Lina managed to block the attack with the use of her Lithium dagger and grabbed her sawed-off shotgun from her back. Blasting several holes into Sherra's chest plate, Sherra jumped back while Lina pulled the trigger for another shot.

"HEY!" Lina ran after the robot as she fled off the rooftop and jumped to another building's roof. "COME BACK HERE!" The redhead was close behind her and Sherra smiled evilly. Everything was going strictly to plan. But, unbeknownst to Lina or Sherra, dancing her way after them was the gypsy wench, beautifully twirling with her chiffon fabrics waving lovingly in the wind.

* * *

On the other side of town, Amelia shouted desperately for the townspeople. She ran through the burning homes and checked thoroughly for any survivors. When she ran past the main street, she skidded against the road when she saw a young woman hunched in the middle of the road. She looked unthawed by the fire and was curled against her knees like a ball.

"We need to get out of here!" Amelia rushed over and grabbed the girl by both shoulders. She instantly regretted grabbing her when the woman lifted her icy glare. The unknown girl had silver shards erupting from her face and blood smeared over her lips. Amelia immediately jumped back but the girl grabbed her by the hands. She screamed when the girl's sharp nails entered her knuckles and tried to pull her in to her ravaging mouth. Amelia quickly used her legs and kicked the girl at her chin, thus releasing her hold on her knuckles. As the girl fell backwards, Amelia fled a few feet away and inspected both of her knuckles. It was bleeding profusely but there was no damage to it. She looked back at the girl and watched horrifyingly as she licked the blood from her fingernails.

"Amelia!" Amelia turned her head at Filia's voice. "Are you alright- WOAH!" She jumped at the sight of the female creature. Frantically getting on her feet, Amelia covered her bleeding knuckles with a ripped piece of her dress. The two ladies yelped when the creature hissed at them and moved further back.

"W-What is that, Filia-San?"

"I have NO idea," Filia unstrapped her iron mace from under her dress skirt. "But if this is the thing that is terrorizing the townspeople, we need to kill it."

"Agreed." Amelia lifted her fists. However, when she did raise her hands, Amelia felt a sudden stab of pain erupting over her knuckles that it caused her to fall to the ground.

"Amelia!" Her boss knelt next to her and grabbed her shoulders while Amelia pressed her hands over her chest. "Amelia, what's wrong?"

"M-My hands…" She painfully whined and cringed when the feeling stirred higher on her arms. Smoothing out her back to try to relieve the pain, Filia looked instantly up when the creature in front of her released a loud shriek. Slowly, more creatures slipped out of hiding and gathered around them. Filia pulled her arms around Amelia's body, she hugged the whimpering girl against her chest as more monsters hissed and shrieked for more reinforcements.

"We need to get out of here." Filia lifted Amelia off the ground. "Come on, Amelia!" But Amelia struggled on her feet and weighed them down. Unable to flee, Filia stood over Amelia's curled body and waved her heavy weapon around.

"Come!" She screamed and bashed one creature into his head. When he fell to the ground, his fellow comrades rushed quickly to his side and began to eat him. Alarmed at the spectacle, Filia didn't see the monsters on her left moving closer to her and suddenly shoved her to the ground. Filia screamed. She kicked her legs and managed to free herself from the monsters.

"F-Filia-San…" Amelia cringed. Filia heard her desperate cry and saw that more monsters were gathering around her lain body. She shoved through the crowd without getting bitten or clawed at and covered Amelia with her body.

"If you want her, you're going to have to get through me and my mace!" Filia glared deathly at the monsters. The monsters were unmoved and continued to come closer. There were too much of them and Filia knew that she couldn't get them all so she buried her face against the top of Amelia's head and waited for them to attack her. When she could feel the tip of the creature's nails on her skin, Filia jumped at the sound of loud gunshots. Lots and lots of loud gunshots. All the monsters around her suddenly fell to the ground, twitching to death. Filia lifted her head and saw her savior.

Standing just outside of the circle of dead monsters, there was a figure covered in a straw coat. Wearing a straw hat that had a thin cloth covering most of his face, the man that stood there held a wooden staff in his left hand and a large smoking revolver in the other. She stared at the covered man with wide eyes and he looked back at her with a cool and relaxed expression, his eyes were vibrantly glowing under the dark shade of the hat. Moving off Amelia, Filia gulped when the stranger dropped his revolver to his side.

"She's going to turn into one of them." His voice was dark and raspy. Filia glanced back at her friend and at the man. "Kill the sword and she'll return to normal."

"Kill the swo- HEY!" The man suddenly fled. Filia carefully gathered Amelia on her back and chased after him. She followed him through numerous dark alleys and when she thought she was gaining on him, he vanished before her eyes. She stepped out of the dark alleyway and paused to look around her. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Filia!" Running down the road with Zangulas, Zelgadiss called out to her. He saw Amelia's painful expression and sprinted faster to them. "What happened?"

"We were surrounded." Still stunned at what just happened, Filia stood dazed and tried to find the man who saved her while Zelgadiss pulled Amelia off her back. He touched her cheeks and cringed at the coldness. Zelgadiss ran his fingers through her dark locks and tried to get Amelia's attention.

"Amelia." He caressed her sweaty brow and fixed her glossy eyes on his. "Amelia, talk to me."

"Z-Zel…" Amelia's indigo eyes rolled around her sockets and her body began to twitch. "I… I can't…"

"Zel, we got to move." Zangulas grabbed Zelgadiss's shoulder and made him look at the crowd of monsters racing down the road. Carrying Amelia, Zelgadiss rushed away with Zangulas dragging Filia behind him.

"Come on, Filia!"

"B-But…" Filia continuously tried to look for her savior. But when she saw the large crowd of monsters running after them, she quickly gave up her search and ran willingly away. They ran further into town and stopped when they turned around the corner and saw another crowd of bloody monsters. Running the other way, they were quickly ambushed and fled to a dead end road. At the end of the road was the Saillune's law enforcement building and they rushed quickly through the front doors. Zangulas and Filia closed the doors with furniture and pressed their backs against the doors as the monsters tried to get in. Zelgadiss, however, placed Amelia's body on the ground and waited for a response.

"I can't… move." She whimpered and shut her eyes.

"Don't." Zelgadiss grabbed her hand and roughly shook her cheek, making her open her eyes. "Don't shut your eyes. You can't go to sleep." He hesitated when she released a trembling sigh. "You can't go to sleep…" He watched her feathery eyelashes fluttering desperately to keep open. "Y-You can't…" Zelgadiss thought it was Amelia who was shaking but it was really him. "Y-You… can't…"

"Zel…" Her lips curved into a small smile. Unbearable to watch her, Zelgadiss buried his wet eyes against Amelia's chest and kept an ear to her beating heart. Her heart was beating but it was beating very slow and soft. Zelgadiss looked up when Filia let out a loud gasp, even Zangulas let out a sudden curse word.

"Look at her hands." Zangulas pointed. Zelgadiss lowered his eyes to the hand he was holding so tightly. The fabric around her knuckles had ripped through and pure silver chunks were erupting from her skin.

"She's… turning into…" Filia trembled. Sweet Amelia was turning into a monster.

"Zel." Zangulas grabbed Zelgadiss by the shoulders and moved him away from Amelia's side. "We need to enclose her-"

"She's not going to turn."

"Those spike things are starting to grow out of her. She's going to turn-"

"She's not going to turn." Zelgadiss broke away from Zangulas's hold and glared at him. "Amelia is going to be fine."

"Zelgadiss." Filia made him look at her. "She's going to endanger our lives. We need to do something or she's going to kill us-"

"You touch one hair on her," Suddenly, grabbing his revolver from his belt, Zelgadiss pointed it in the middle of Filia's forehead. "You're dead."

"Zel." Zangulas glanced at the fierce expression on Zelgadiss and at Filia's calm stare. "Put the gun down-"

"Amelia is going to be FINE." Zelgadiss chanted.

"Okay." The barkeep reached over and lowered the revolver for him. "She's going to be fine." He breathed slightly easier when the gun returned to its holster. Giving Filia one more second of his deathly look, Zelgadiss turned around and return to Amelia's side while Zangulas pulled Filia away.

"We got to find a way out of here."

"And leave him?" Filia looked at Zangulas with great shock.

"We're not going to change his mind." Zangulas quickly told her. "He's going to stay with her, turned or unturned."

"But, Zang-"

"Lina said that there could be a possibility that there will be a cure for this mutation. When we find that cure, we can bring Amelia back." Filia nodded with him and suddenly remembered what the man in the straw hat and coat had said to her.

"He said to kill the sword." Filia muttered and Zangulas asked what she meant. "The man who saved me from the crowd of monsters earlier, he said that Amelia is going to turn BUT if we kill the sword, she's going to return back to normal!"

"The sword?" Zangulas repeated with uncertainty and looked back at Zelgadiss when he heard a sudden noise. Zelgadiss had Amelia in his arms and was carrying her to the other side of the building where there was an infirmary.

"Come on," Zangulas grabbed Filia by the hand and dragged her to the opposite direction. "We need to get out of here and find this sword."

* * *

"See?" The Bandit Killer sighed with slight irritation. "This is why I can't work with you."

"Whatever are you talking about, Lina?" Martina let out a high pitch scoff. "You would be DEAD if I didn't intervene."

"Really?" Lina turned her head to glare at the woman. "What do you call this then?" Martina glance at their situation and shrugged her shoulders.

"A successful rescue."

"YOU IDIOT." Lina began to thrash her able arm and leg at her. "I HAD THAT ROBOT BITCH IN MY SIGHTS AND YOU FUCKING SHOVED ME OFF THE ROOF!"

"UGH!" Martina let out another high-pitch scoff. "HOW DARE YOU? I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!"

"SAVED MY LIFE? WE'RE STUCK IN A TREE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Trapped at the top of a large tree, Lina and Martina were tangled by an abundant of tree branches blocking their freedom. "YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING NUISANCE!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A NUISANCE? YOU FLAT-CHESTED LITTLE BOY!"

"YOU DELUSIONAL NYMPHOMANIAC!" Using only their able appendages, they tried to hit each other until the branches couldn't handle their overbearing weight. Every branch broke loudly as Lina and Martina continuously dropped to the ground. When they reached the bottom, Martina painfully screeched for Lina to get off her body while Lina accused her of almost getting her killed. As they rose to their feet, they instantly grabbed their weapons when they heard soft laughter nearby.

"You two should start a comedy duo." General Sherra stepped out of the dark alleyway between two buildings and smiled. "It'll definitely catch on."

"Sounds like fun but I'd rather do my act with someone else." Lina smirked while Martina just rolled her eyes. Sherra continued to giggle and changed her slick arms into blades once again.

"Look," Lina glanced at Martina. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Why do you purposely disregard my talents?" The gypsy woman grumbled, causing Lina to snort.

"Just shut up and do what I say, alright?" And she leaned forward to whisper her plan into her partner's ear. Sherra watched as Lina spoke quietly to Martina and arched an eyebrow when Martina gave Lina a sudden angry expression.

"That plan is STUPID! I'd rather go with MY plan." And Martina whispered her idea into Lina's ear, in which caused Lina to glare at her.

"That plan is STUPID-ER!" Lina barked. "We're sticking to MY plan."

"NO. MY plan is genius-"

"Your plan is going to be us killed!"

"No, YOURS IS!" Sherra glanced between the disagreeable foes and sighed. She didn't need to fight them at all; they could just fight each other. When they started to hit each other, Sherra rolled her eyes and transformed her blades back into her arms. And when she did that, Lina smirked and grabbed the hidden revolver in her shoulder holster inside of her vest.

"My plan is so great," The Bandit Killer raised her triple barrel, double action gun and swung it past Martina's head. Sherra's eyes widen when the end of the barrel pointed at her. "That I can't believe it actually worked!" Lina released three speedy rounds at the robot, all of which hit the center of her chest thus breaking her armor plate into pieces and penetrating through her rubber skin. Sherra let out a loud shriek and was shoved backwards to the ground. She struggled to get up on her feet and winced when Lina stomped her boot against her shoulder, pushing her roughly back on the ground.

"This…" Sherra glanced between her bleeding chest and at the smoking gun pointed at her face. "You are using Lithium bullets!"

"See, a little birdie told us that the only way to kill a robot powered by Lithium; is to use Lithium." Lina snickered. "And apparently, Xellos was right."

"Xellos…" Sherra snarled.

"Now," Martina knelt down and smiled wickedly at the lain robot. "You are going to tell us how to change the monsters back to humans or the little flat-chest boy is going to shoot you through your head."

"Easy, gypsy." Lina snorted. "We're finished with the plan." General Sherra scowled at her misfortune. Had she have known that Lina Inverse used Lithium bullets, she would have approached this a bit more carefully and strategically.

"I was hoping to exterminate you, Lina Inverse." Sherra sighed. "However, my plan will not end successfully if I do not leave."

"Plan?" Lina and Martina curled their eyebrows. Suddenly, Sherra twisted out of their hold by kicking Lina in the gut and slapping Martina to the ground. She hesitantly got to her feet and bowed to the both of them.

"It was a good duel." She commented. "But it will be the last time I will allow you to win, Lina Inverse." And as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. Lina coughed loudly as she held her stomach. She looked at the direction where Sherra had left and grinded her teeth. She was headed to the mine shafts, outside of Saillune.

* * *

Zelgadiss knew she was going to turn but instead, he denied it. Watching the silver shards come out of her knuckles grow larger, it was just a matter of time before she turned into a monster. Zelgadiss caressed her cold cheek and continued to hold Amelia's hand. He watched as the blue color of her eyes turned dull and grey, her breathing became rapid, and her sweet voice turned raspy and horrifying. Amelia was turning and all he could think about was the heavy bullets in his pocket.

Finally, he released Amelia's hand and took his revolver from his hip holster. Amelia wouldn't want to turn into a monster, he concluded. She didn't want to be made a monster and kill the townspeople. She wouldn't want that. So, he entered the bullets that he had received from Lina into the bullet chamber and spun it into its place. Zelgadiss stood up from the chair and placed the revolver against Amelia's chest, exactly where her heart was located. Then he waited. He waited some more when the colors in her eyes turned completely silver and all that was coming out of her mouth was shrieks. He continued to wait as she turned her deadly eyes on him. Finally, he stopped waiting when Amelia tried to sit up and shot her in the heart. Her blood splattered against his clothes. He stood next to the love of his life with emotionless eyes.

"It's unlikely I'll see you in heaven," Zelgadiss moved his revolver to his temple in a smooth movement. "But it's unbearable to live without you." And just as he was about to pull the trigger, Zelgadiss stopped instantly when Amelia's body jerked and she let out an agonizing screech. He shot her in the heart and yet, she is still alive? He moved away from the bed and watched as Amelia twisted against the bed sheets. She was screaming in heavy pain as if he was torturing her. Unable to listen anymore, Zelgadiss lifted his revolver and aimed it straight at her forehead. Then, he noticed something occurring right before him. The colors in her eyes were switching between the dull silver to her vibrant blue innocence. Was she coming back?

"Amelia." He slowly went to her side and keeping his weapon close to his body, he touched her chubby cheek and she instantly looked at him. She softly called out his name and Zelgadiss dropped the gun. He wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders and held her struggling body against the bed. Zelgadiss didn't care that her nails were digging into his clothes or her legs were so close to his head, he wanted her back and all he could think of doing was holding her down and call her name repeatedly. At last, Amelia stopped moving and went limb in his arms. Still hesitant, Zelgadiss eventually moved his head to see her face. Staring back at him were blue eyes and a smile.

"Zelgadiss-San…" But how? Zelgadiss shoved his lips against hers and kissed her like it was the first time. How did Amelia come back? He was in the middle of running his fingers through her hair when she started to complain about the pain in her chest, the exact spot where he had shot her. Zelgadiss helped take her dress off and looked over the bullet wound over her naked breast. He inspected it closely and as he was opening it wider to take the bullet out, he froze immediately to see that the bullet had dissolved and what appeared to be part of her bone was covered in the same silver mineral that was coming out of her knuckles. Zelgadiss glanced at the sack of bullets that Lina had given him and realized that it was the Lithium rounds that Lina was working so hard to make. Had the Lithium incorporated itself into Amelia? That couldn't have happened. She wasn't a robot. So, how…

"L-Sama!" Amelia finally saw the large rocks sticking out of her knuckles. "What is this?" She looked at the jagged edges and squirmed at it. "It looks like… tungsten."

"Tungsten?" Zelgadiss looked over the raw mineral that was erupting from her joints. She hit the hammer to the nail. It is tungsten, a rare and hard metal that grows coincidentally right outside of Saillune and in the North. Grazing his fingers against the edges, Zelgadiss could see that the tungsten had grown over her developed knuckles and into her bones. Zelgadiss glanced at Amelia's confused expression. Could it be the tungsten that guards Amelia's bones that Lithium had incorporated itself with? Well, Zelgadiss sighed in deep relief to see Amelia's lovely face, he can get to the bottom of this mystery later.

"Amelia." He pressed their foreheads together and rubbed the tips of their noses. However, right now, all he wanted to do was love his Princess. Amelia giggled at his tickling lips and motioned to get off the bed, except Zelgadiss shook his head and gave her a sly and seductive smile. She blushed deeply when he climbed into the bed next to her.

"Z-Zelgadiss-San?" Amelia gulped and let out a lusty moan the moment he kissed a particular spot on her neck. She fully enjoyed his full attention and was ready to return it but she couldn't help get bothered by the irritating shrieking noises and loud movements outside of the closed infirmary.

"What's all that noise?" Quite annoyed, Amelia tried to sit up but Zelgadiss kept her down.

"Those are the monsters, Princess."

"Monsters…" She closed her eyes when his mouth ran over her hard nipple and as if lightening struck her, she immediately sat up. "Monsters?" Zelgadiss nodded and continued to kiss her chest.

"Like," Amelia looked down at his soft expression. "Like the ones that were trying to get Filia-San and I awhile ago?"

"We're safe here." He nuzzled his face against her skin. "They won't get inside the room."

"So, they are in the building?" She looked up at the single door in the room that was coincidentally unlocked and had nothing reinforcing it. "Outside of that door?"

"Sounds like it-"

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

"But Ameliaaaaa…" Now, it was Zelgadiss's turn to whine.

* * *

Unable to find Sherra, Lina and Martina located the rest of the living townspeople with their Mayor and counted heads. There were more than half of the town and none of them knew where the rest of the bounty hunters have gone too.

"Filia-Dono and my daughter left some time ago," Phil told Lina. "To look for some more survivors."

"I'm sure they are heading back as we speak." Lina smiled to calm his nerves and grabbed Martina away to the side. "I need to go back into town and look for the others. You stay here with Phil and protect the people."

"Y-You're leaving me here? What if that robot girl comes back?"

"What's with the hesitation, woman?" Lina scoffed at Martina's sudden change. "You can handle her."

"Lina Inverse." Martina balled her hands into fists and placed them on her hips. "You know very well that I cannot!"

"Fine." Reaching into her shoulder holster, Lina handed her the revolver that occupied the Lithium bullets. "Do you feel better now?"

"You know very well that I cannot shoot this THING!" Martina continued to shriek. Lina just rolled her eyes and left the group, ignoring Martina's loud and high-pitch protests. Running through town, Lina managed to dodge the sights of the creatures prowling around the streets. She was in the middle of sneaking past a group of them when a sudden scream was released nearby, alerting the monsters to turn their heads and spot her.

"Oh, shit." Lina gulped and went into a sprint. As she was going down a road, she turned into another street at the sight of more monsters and slammed into two young males running the opposite direction. Pokota got off the ground easily for he didn't feel a thing but Lina and Val rubbed their soreheads.

"There you are." Lina sighed in relief to have collided with Val and Pokota.

"It's great to see you too but we need to get out of here!" Pokota rushed the two humans to their feet when he spotted the same large group of monsters that he and Val were running away from coming towards them. Together, the three rushed through a bloody street and entered a building when another group of monsters blocked the exit. Just as they were locking the front door and barricading it with random things, Lina stopped instantly at the sound of a hammer on a revolver being pulled. Lina was the first to turn around. Standing behind them was a girl in a black dress. She was holding a gun.

"Get back!" The girl cried.

"Look." Lina lifted her hands in the air. "I'm not a monster-"

"You came from outside!" She continued to cry. "You're one of them!"

"No!" Val and Pokota pressed their backs against the front door for the furniture wasn't enough to hold it close. "We're not!"

"Look, kid." Lina carefully walked to the girl. "I'm not a monster. I'm Lina Inverse."

"Lina In…" The girl seemed to recognize her name. "Are you… here to put me into jail?"

"Kid." The Bandit Killer let out an irritable sigh. "Do I look like I'm on the job?" The girl opened her mouth to say something else until the pounding against the front door made her direct her attention to the situation.

"There is a hidden tunnel in the back, beneath the tarp in front of the fireplace." She told them quickly. "It'll lead you outside of Saillune." Lina nodded and ordered the boys to follow. But when they moved away from the front door, the monsters began to break through the locks and barricading furniture.

"Go!" The girl screamed and they all fled to the back. As the three lifted the tarp in front of the fireplace and opened the hidden door to the tunnel, Lina looked at the unknown girl crouched next to her. Who was this girl? She never saw her before. When the girl noticed her looking, Lina gave a friendly smile.

"What's your name?"

"Dulgofa." She replied and helped Pokota into the tunnel.

"Nice name." Lina nodded and jumped in after the two boys. Dulgofa smirked and went after her, closing the door shut before the monsters got into the room.


	21. Chapter 21 Purposely Mistaken

Chapter 21 - Purposely Mistaken

They could still hear the loud screeching but were safely out of Saillune. Locking the door behind her with the latch and several pieces of wood, Dulgofa joined Lina's side and watched the burning rooftops of Saillune. Val just shook his head and turned away, he couldn't watch another home get burned down again. While he paced around, Dulgofa followed him with her dark eyes and quickly looked back at Saillune when he turned to face her and the others.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Val asked loudly. "Let's go back there and kill those fucking monsters!"

"Zel and Zang are handling it." Lina quickly told him. She looked away from the awful view and met with Val's agitated eyes. "And you're not killing anything." They stared at each other for a few silent seconds before Val looked away with a sharp scoff.

"Oh right, ZEL is taking care of it." Val snorted. "Why don't we have him take care of everything else?"

"Look." The redhead closed the distance between them. "Those MONSTERS that are terrorizing and killing everyone is not the enemy."

"Then who is?" Pokota asked.

"A robot named Sherra. She's a servant under the Outlaw Four. She is the one who made our friends into crazed cannibals."

"So, let's find her and-"

"The only thing you and Pokota are going to do is stay out of harm's way." She snapped at Val.

"Cut the fucking umbilical cord, Lina." Val growled. "I'm old enough to do whatever I want-"

"Shut the fuck up, Val, and do what I say!"

"NO! I want to fucking help!" He raised his voice so it overcame Lina's. "Zelgadiss is not the only man around here!"

"Stop being a fucking brat and do what you are told!" Glaring at each other, they didn't bother to react to the loud rustling and movements in the thick forest nearby until Pokota pulled them apart and pointed at it.

"I got it." Val pulled out his slick dagger from his belt.

"No. I got it." Lina rushed past him with her own dagger and entered the forest. Val rolled his eyes and faced Pokota, who was merely shrugging his shoulders.

"She's the boss."

"The fucking flat-chest boss." Val grumbled and turned his angry eyes to the side where Dulgofa was standing and intently staring at him. He flinched when she smiled coyly and released a soft giggle. A light blush developed over his nose as Dulgofa continued to smile at him and he embarrassingly looked away.

* * *

After a few minutes of waiting, Pokota paced around with his arms crossed and his fingers tapping annoyingly on his elbow.

"She's obviously lost." He finally said. Val and Dulgofa looked over at him. "I'm going after her."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Dulgofa quickly spoke and stopped Pokota from entering the thick trees. "What if there are monsters in there?"

"Then I'll kill them with my bow and tomahawk." Pokota ran his fingers against his wooden bow.

"But, we need to stick together." The girl whined.

"Then we should all go in there and look for Lina."

"I'm not going in there!" She cried aloud and rushed to Val's side where she grabbed onto his arm and hugged it. Val instantly froze and blood rushed to his face. "You can't make me go!" Pokota sighed and looked at his red-faced comrade.

"We can surely look after ourselves-"

"But we have Dulgofa." Val purposely made sure not to look at her. "We should look for a safer location instead."

"What about Lina?" Pokota asked.

"It's not the first time she got lost in the forest. And besides, she can handle her own damn self." The teenager snorted and started heading to the opposite direction from the forest. He was obviously still upset and although Pokota did not want to desert Lina in the forest, he'd much rather stick with Val and Dulgofa then to look for her alone. Pokota released a heavy sigh as he followed Val. He had, once again, abandoned his comrade.

* * *

Filia and Zangulas managed to come out unscathed from the building and travel outside of Saillune without a single monster. They found the surviving group of townspeople and while being bombarded with unanswerable questions, Martina shoved and pushed her way to them, disregarding the fact that she may have brutally injured some of the folks just to get to her husband.

"Darling!" The gypsy queen lunged into Zangulas's arms and wept heavily against his naked chest. "Oh, Darling, where have you been? I was so worried about you!" She cried with her arms tightly secured around his waist. Zangulas patted his sweet wife on the back of her head and remembered why he had fell in love with her in the first place. When he explained that he was trying to get to her, he soon realized why he was thinking of breaking up his marriage.

"AND WHY HAVEN'T YOU GOTTEN HERE FASTER? YOUR SWEET WIFE COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!" She began to hit him with her clenched fists and choked the air out of his lungs. Filia ignored Zangulas's pleas of help and went to Philionel's side. She winced to see that his shirt had been ripped off and long scratches were etched across his chest.

"Phil…" She softly called his name and the large man finally noticed her.

"Filia-Dono," A sigh of relief escaped his lips. "I was beginning to worry."

"I am too." She looked over the slightly bleeding marks and gulped. "What happened?"

"Oh, this?" Phil chuckled like it was no big deal. "Some of the men were getting agitated and I had to handle it." He motioned over to the crowd of young men with deep bruises on their faces. Filia nodded and saw that he was looking around them; she knew that he was looking for his daughter and averted his attention to something.

"Have you noticed any of the townspeople acting strange?" She asked but he kept looking.

"Our town has been ransacked by monsters, Filia-Dono. Everyone is acting strange and paranoid."

"I'm only asking because," Filia moved to block his sights. "Because it's the townspeople who are turning into monsters." That quickly grabbed his attention.

"What?" Phil's eyebrows curled.

"Something is making the townspeople evolve into these cannibals and it's contagious."

"How is it spreading?"

"Well," Filia gulped. "A girl was pierced through her knuckles with a monster's fingernails and within minutes, she was already turning."

"My L-Sama…" The Mayor muttered and began to pace around. The nearby townspeople who heard Filia began to spread the news across the crowd and before Phil could address it to his people; everyone was checking their own bodies for any cuts or open wounds that they could have possibly acquired from the monsters. At the end of the crowd, a large riot began when a man spotted a woman hiding her child with a large scratch on her arm.

"She's going to turn into one of them!" The man pointed at the child.

"N-No!" The mother cried out and covered her baby with her arms. "She fell down and scratched her arm! She never got close to a monster!"

"She's going to turn and kill all of us!" Another woman shouted with terror.

"Kill her!" Another person raised a club in the air and moved towards the mother and her child until Phil stepped in between them.

"IF ANY OF YOU DARE TO TAKE ONE MORE STEP CLOSER," His loud voice shook the paranoia out of the fearful men and cracked his large knuckles in front of their faces. "I WILL STOP YOU." The justice fighter of the East warned with his protruding, shaky fists. The crowd seemed to calm themselves after seeing their leader's brave and frightening stance, and quickly forgotten about the woman's child. Filia went to Phil's side and looked at the scared child. The scratch on her arm looked nothing serious as Amelia's wound on her knuckles. It was unlikely that it was a scratch created by one of the monsters. The woman thanked Phil for his protection and hugged her child tighter, accidentally spilling a few tears from her eyes. Heavy tension weighed upon Filia's judgment and she decided that Phil deserved to know what had happened to his daughter.

"Philionel." Filia grabbed Phil by his bulging bicep. "We need to talk." He looked at her worried eyes and knew that it was extremely serious. "It's about…" She hesitated for she didn't know how to give out bad news so she lowered her eyes and patted Phil gently against his arm. "I-It's about…"

"Lina!" Zangulas suddenly called out. Filia and Phil swerved their heads and spotted their redhead heroine stepping out of the thick forest with a bunch of people behind her. She was rubbing the back of her head while a man carried her heavy weapons next to her.

"Hey, guys." Lina winced with pain as she walked through the townspeople. "I found some more people wandering around the forest."

"What happened to you, Red?" Zangulas asked when Lina withdrew her hand from the back of her head and revealed blood on her palm.

"Some IDIOT thought I was a monster and hit me on the back of the head." She threw a glare at the man carrying her things and he immediately jumped.

"You ARE a monster." Martina muttered with a smirk and Lina just snorted hot air at her. Looking around the crowd, Lina released an exhausted grunt and began to put her weapons back on her body.

"Fuck." She cursed. "Pokota and Val aren't here."

"I thought Pokota and Val are in hiding."

"Do you really think those stupid boys would follow our directions?" Lina asked Filia, in which Filia shook her head with a sigh and got ready to leave with Lina.

"I told them to stay put while I check out the noise and what do they do? THEY LEAVE!" The redhead swiped her last weapon from her slave and shoved it into its holster. "This is why I am never getting children."

"I'm coming with you." Zangulas securely tied his sword on his belt until Martina grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back.

"Oh no, you won't! You are staying here with me!"

"Let go of me this instant, bloody woman! It is my duty to protect my neighbors-"

"So is protecting the woman you married!" Martina snarled with sharp teeth and Zangulas quickly agreed to stay.

"Do not worry, Zangulas, we'll be fine." Filia smiled at him while Lina and Martina stuck their tongues at each other. Zangulas nodded and watched as Filia and Lina enter the forest without him.

* * *

The side of his face was harshly pressed against the dirt. Pokota couldn't feel the pressure against him but he wasn't able to push off the ground for the weight of the person was too great. The woman finally removed her hand off his head and stepped around him. She smiled wickedly when Pokota raised his head and tried to speak but the blood squirting out of his neck was preventing his voice to leave and all that was coming out was gurgles. She turned around, kicking dirt on Pokota's face and traveled to Val.

"Now, robot child," Sherra smiled. "Lead me to the Lithium caves." It was Val whom Sherra thought was the robot child from Taforashia and Pokota was trying his best to tell her that it wasn't him. However, Val played along and turned toward the direction of the mine shafts.

"Fine." Val snorted. He walked past Dulgofa, the girl who he had developed slight feelings for in a short amount of time and glared murderously at her. It turned out Dulgofa was working for Sherra all along and had successfully fooled Pokota, Val, and even the great Lina Inverse. Now, Pokota watched with wide eyes, Val is in danger and it was his fault.

"V-V-Va…" He tried to call him back. Val glanced back; he stared at Pokota's bleeding figure and sprouted a soft smirk. "No…" Pokota shook his head but Val had already looked away. They entered into the dark forest and left Pokota to his pool of blood. Rolling to his back, Pokota quickly ran his hands across his body, looking for anything that could make any noise. He removed his father's bow and holding the end of it, began to whack the wooden weapon against a nearby tree. Hopefully Lina was nearby and she could hear him. Not a mere three minutes passed when Filia rushed into sight with Lina behind her. Pokota groaned in relief, in which came out like a gurgle.

"Oh my…" Filia tipped his upper body against her knee and wrapped her naked fingers on his open throat wound. "Give me something to stop the bleeding!"

"Right!" Lina removed her bullet-proof vest and shoved it at Pokota's neck. As Lina held the blood from flowing out, Filia looked around for her son.

"Where…" She turned her head several times. "Where is…"

"Va…" Pokota gurgled. He moved his hand and pointed to the direction that Val went. Filia moved to go but Pokota grabbed the ends of her dress skirt, stopping her. "Gi… Girl…" He pronounced and shook his head, trying to hint to Filia that Val was not alone.

"Girl? You mean, Dulgofa?" Lina asked and Pokota nodded, except he raised two fingers in the air. "Two girls."

"Who did this to you?" Filia knelt next to his head. "Was it the two girls?" Once again, Pokota nodded.

"Did the other girl have a long braid?" Lina cursed when Pokota nodded. "Fuck. I knew that girl was too good to be true."

"What are you talking about, Lina?"

"We ran into a girl in town and she rescued us from the monsters." Lina helped Pokota to his bottom. "I should have known that girl was placed there by Sherra."

"But, what do robots want with MY son?"

"No…" Talking so softly, Pokota pointed to himself. "Mistake…"

"Mistake?" Filia curled her eyebrows. He continued to point to his chest and repeat the single word until Lina finally got it.

"They think Val is the robot." She said quickly and met with Filia's eyes. "Sherra took Val believing that he is Pokota."

"But, WHY?"

"Lithium." Lina tied her jacket around Pokota's neck and helped him get to his feet. "She wants Val to lead her to the Lithium mines."

"But-But…" Filia began to stutter. "H-He doesn't…"

"That's why we need to find him before they find out that he's not who they think he is."

* * *

At the entrance of a large hole, bordered up with wooden planks, Val sat on the ground and watched Dulgofa with hooded eyes. She was walking around him with her lips pursed out and fingers playfully running through her black hair. They didn't say a word to each other until they spotted Sherra walking out of the man-made hole and with a large dull fragment in her hand. She walked straight to Val and grabbed a handful of his shirt. Lifting him slightly off the ground and shoving the fragment against his face, Sherra flashed her threatening teeth.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" She asked and Val kept quiet. "Do you think I don't know the difference between Diamonds and Lithium?" Throwing the pure diamond at the ground, Sherra looked over the nonchalant expression on Val's face and snorted.

"You have guts, Child." Sherra gently placed Val back to his feet and stepped around him, looking him over carefully. "If you refuse to talk, I can always make you talk." Still, Val didn't say anything. A soft smile appeared on her face and turning her arms into blades; Sherra placed a blade on his shoulder and smiled coyly. Val continued to stay silent. Sherra chuckled and made a small cut into his skin.

"I saw you with that taller woman, you know. The one you call Filia." Val's eyes fidgeted and Sherra knew that she hit a tender spot. "I can find her." Walking around his still figure with her arm blades still grazing his skin, Sherra giggled. "And kill her."

"Filia…" Val's fists trembled. Behind him now, Sherra blew a puff of hot air at the back of his neck and made him shudder.

"Shred her into pieces and make her scream." Sherra moved around his body and looked at his pale face. "And she's going to die because of you." She tilted his face up with a blade pressed on his chin and giggled.

"Just tell me where the Lithium is and I'll leave Filia out of this." Val stared at her frighteningly. Sherra watched him for a silent minute until she saw his Adam's apple nudging near her blade and a pulsing vein that repeatedly moved in a beat. Her eyes widen at the moving vein. She glanced at Val's face and back at the pulsing blood vein.

"You." Her voice started to growl. "You are not the robot." Almost immediately, her facial expression twisted and turned into anger.

"DAMN IT!" Sherra roared and with a sudden move, she sliced Val's right arm clean off. He released a pain-striking scream and fell straight to the ground. His deep red blood rushed out of his body, splashing everything around him. Val rolled and flopped around the dirt, screaming endlessly.

"DULGOFA." Sherra snarled for the young woman. "YOU PROMISED TO GET ME THE ROBOT CHILD."

"But, Ma'am, I did everything you told me-"

"THIS INSOLENT CHILD IS NOT THE ROBOT." Sherra glared at her murderously. "YOU HAVE FAILED."

"Please, Ma'am," Dulgofa whimpered and dropped to her knees. "Please, don't… I don't want to go back-"

"YOU HAVE FAILED." Sherra repeated and raised her right blade in the air. She swung her arm at Dulgofa's neck and decapitated her. The girl's head rolled against the ground and yet, her body stayed still. Sticking out of her gaping neck was a thin black handle. Sherra transformed her arms back to normal and grabbed the bloody black handle. Using her foot to push Dulgofa's body backwards, Sherra successfully pulled the handle and took out a long deadly rapier. She ignored the blood covering the slick weapon and looked back at Val, who had stopped screaming and was panting heavily against the ground. Sherra glanced between Val and the weapon in her hand, a wicked smile formed over her face.

"Maybe," She stepped to Val's side. "You are not so worthless." Sherra kicked Val to his back and moved the end of the rapier to his chest. Through squinty eyes, Val watched as Sherra grazed the tip of the sword on his chiseled chest and stopped near his open wound. In a sudden thrust, Sherra stabbed Val in his right shoulder with the rapier and grinded the tip of it into his body until it was standing on its own.

Excruciating pain overwhelmed his entire body. The sword felt like it was made out of fire and it burned him alive. He could feel the weapon torching against his flesh and wiggling in deeper like a worm. Sherra's smile only grew as the rapier slowly began to enter into his body. Thrashing aggressively on the dirt, Val screamed louder than when Sherra cut his arm off. He turned his head to his bloody wound for he felt something coming out of his body. Suddenly, a matching arm erupted out of his body but it was smooth and silver in color. Val roared in agony as he moved his new arm and clenched his fingers into a fist. Sherra let out a soft giggle when she noticed that his mechanical arm was growing longer and larger, more monster-like. His fingertips sharpened into claws and his entire arm erupted sharp shards everywhere. The blade was fully swallowed now but the black handle stuck out of Val's shoulder. Sherra tried to push the sword handle into his body but failed to do so. She was in the middle of stomping the blade's handle when she heard loud gasps behind her.

Lina and Filia had arrived. They stood behind Sherra and were shocked to learn that the terrible screams that they heard were coming out of Val's lips. Sherra snickered and walked around Val so they can fully see his transformation. Filia immediately covered her mouth, choking with wetness in her eyes and fell to her knees. Panting heavily on the ground with foam and blood falling from his mouth, Val stared at Filia and Lina with cold silver eyes and released a monstrous snarl.

"What… What did you do to him?" Even Lina had trouble talking.

"I made him into my pet." Sherra patted Val on his head and leaned her body against his new arm. "Do you like him?"

"You bitch." Lina grinded her angry teeth together and lifted her revolver to Sherra's face. "BRING HIM BACK!"

"Unfortunately," Sherra sighed and ran her fingers on Val's heaving chest. "Only Lithium can turn beasts back to their previous state."

"The only way you're going to get any Lithium is through my bullets!" The redhead instantly got angrier.

"You don't believe me?" Sherra asked with a cute pout. "Then, I guess this one is going to stay my pet forever." Biting her lower lip, Lina glanced at her partner. Filia was still quiet and staring intently at her son's changed form. Lina cursed softly to herself. They were at a predicament. Lina had given Zelgadiss her sack of Lithium bullets and whatever Lithium she had on her; she gave to Martina in her other revolver. The only way she was going to get any Lithium was if she goes to the secret mines and that was exactly what Sherra wanted. If Sherra was telling the truth and Lithium is the only thing to cure the turned townspeople and Val, Lina had no other choice.

Except, Lina curled her tense eyebrows, if she did that, the robots will gain control and humanity will no longer cease.

"The separation of my team," Lina muttered softly. "The extreme amount of monsters and confused chaos that is happening in Saillune… you planned everything precisely so you can get one of us to lead you to the Lithium mines."

"I preferred the robot child to lead me but you got the rest of the plan correctly." Sherra giggled. Lina opened her lips to repel a nasty word but stopped in her tracks when Val moved to his feet. Moving sluggishly, Val's right arm dragged slightly on the ground as he stood up carefully.

"He is the perfect specimen." Sherra petted him on the cheek and moved away from his side. She pointed to Filia and Lina. "Kill them, my dear." Val let out a soft growl in response and set forth to his mistress's request. Slowly walking to them, Lina moved her revolver from Sherra to Val. Instantly, Filia stood up and blocked Lina from shooting him.

"No." Filia said with tears. "Please."

"Is the life of your son more precious than the existence of all humanity?" Lina asked. "Is a town worth killing to save the entire world?" Filia began to shake her head but Lina glared at her.

"I'm not giving up on humanity and if it means to kill your son and the rest of the townspeople… I will gladly be a murderer!" Lina grabbed Filia by her shoulder and shoved her to the ground. Filia let out a loud scream. "I'M SORRY, FILIA!" Lina apologized with her revolver pointed at Val.

"NO, LINA!" Filia grabbed Lina's leather pants and shook her aggressively, disturbing her aim. "PLEASE!" As they argued, Val continued to stalk to them. He released a loud shriek when he got closer and it stunned Filia quiet. Lina released a sudden shudder and pulled the hammer of her revolver back.

"I'm sorry." She whispered so softly while Filia wept against her leg. "I'm so sorry-" Suddenly, a white blur raced past Lina and smacked Val across his face, kicking him straight to the ground. The blur grabbed Val by his arm and twisted him backwards, putting him in a tough wrestling hold against the dirt.

"WHAT?" Sherra screeched and stared at the young lady holding her dear pet to the ground. Amelia kept one hand against the back of Val's neck and held his twisted monster arm to the center of his back; she looked at the shocked women behind her and smiled.

"Amelia?" Lina shockingly called and jumped the second Zelgadiss appeared next to her, releasing a chamber of rounds at Sherra when she tried to come after Amelia. The bullets entered Sherra's chest and shoved her backwards to the ground. "How the-"

"We got the cure." Zelgadiss lowered his revolver and showed Lina the empty sack of bullets that she had given him. "Saillune is returning to normal as we speak."

"How did you know that Lithium was the cure?"

"Amelia." Zelgadiss pointed to the jagged points of tungsten replacing Amelia's knuckles as he reloaded his revolver. "The Tungsten had grown over her bones and it incorporated with the Lithium."

"Tungsten and Lithium… But wouldn't that make her…" Lina didn't finish the sentence for Zelgadiss gave off a snort. "I'm… I'm sorry, Zel." Zelgadiss shrugged his shoulders lightly and pushed his loaded chamber back in.

"That makes both of us." He muttered and lifted his hand to his long bangs. A smirk appeared on Lina's face when she spotted matching silver patches growing over the scars on his face. Zelgadiss joined her smirk and quickly turned his head when Amelia let out a sharp yelp. Recovered from the encounter of Zelgadiss's bullets, Sherra was once again rushing to Amelia in a striking position with her blades raised above her head. Zelgadiss shot at the General repeatedly. Each round missed except for the last and that successfully threw Sherra several few feet away from Amelia.

"We can still get Val back." Zelgadiss informed Lina and she nodded. "We'll take care of this. You get more Lithium."

"And I know just who to get it from." Lina sprinted immediately away, ditching Filia's clingy arms.

"FOOLISH MORTALS." Sherra snarled when she straightened her body correctly and lifted her arm blades in a stance. She glared at Zelgadiss, who now stood between her and Amelia. "YOU WILL ALL DIE BY MY BLADES!" In a sudden thrust, Sherra lunged forward and swung her blades at Zelgadiss's neck, except he blocked both her arms with his single sword. Sherra and Zelgadiss glared murderously at each other. Sherra flashed her threatening teeth while he released a slight smirk and stopped his blade from shaking against her arms, in which caused Sherra to lower her threatening gaze.

Slowly pushing the blades away from his neck and setting it against her chest, Zelgadiss chuckled softly and lifted his head, making her look at the blotches of tungsten shards on the right side of his face. Sherra's eyes quickly doubled in size.

"You are the fool." He whispered menacingly and shoved Sherra off his blade. Amelia watched closely as Zelgadiss and the enemy exchanged several clashes with their blades. She only looked away when Val registered below her and tried to reach her with his free arm.

"Val-Kun," Amelia called his name softly. "Please, I know you are still there," Holding his monster arm with her knee, she grabbed his free waving arm and twisted backwards.

"Please come back!" Val let out a loud scream and thrashed against the ground. He didn't hear anything that she had said. Finally, noticing Filia crouched nearby, holding her wet face, Amelia called for her desperately.

"Filia-San, please!" She couldn't hold Val any longer. "Please get him back!"

"V-Val…" Filia was still shaking and could not move. At last, the turned teen lifted to his shaking knees and burst out of Amelia's hold. Amelia landed on the ground and quickly rolled to the side when Val swung his monster arm at her. She gasped at the crater that he created on the ground and watched him come to her with evil eyes.

"Val-Kun…" Amelia whispered as he reached for her neck. He stopped instantly at the sound of her soft and pleading voice. "It's me, Amelia."

"Ame…" Val's raspy and graveling voice muttered. His entire stretched arm shook next to her chin but he continued to glare at her.

"KILL HER!" Next to them, Zelgadiss had Sherra pinned to the ground, trying to pierce her neck except she was holding his sword steadily with her blades.

"KILL HER NOW, YOU FOOL!" Val released a tortured shriek and grasped his head. Amelia watched shockingly when he screamed inaudible sounds and fell to his knees nearby her feet. He was holding his head like it was hurting him. For the time being when Val was brought to his knees, Amelia cautiously looked at Filia. She continued to call for her assistance.

"Filia-San, please." Amelia dared not to move for Val was next to her. "Please, I need your help."

"But…" Filia whimpered, shaking her head like a mad woman.

"No, we can bring him back! We can bring Val-Kun back but I need your help to contain him! Please!" Glancing frequently at Val's growling expression, Amelia knew she didn't have much time before Val lost all his sanity and tried again to get Filia to her right mind. "Please, Filia-San, I can't do this without you! Val-Kun needs you!"

"Val…" Slowly lifting her head, Filia's trembling body stopped moving and she registered her rationality back in order. But just as she was getting back to normal, Sherra kicked Zelgadiss in his gut and slashed his arm. He dropped straight to the ground and Sherra turned to go after Amelia.

"Amelia!" Zelgadiss shouted and Amelia immediately turned to look, but blocking her way was Sherra standing over her with her blades being pulled back to strike her. Instantly shutting her eyes, she waited for the blades to hit her. Then, there came a loud erupting noise like metal slapping against metal. Amelia slowly opened her eyes and saw a black large weapon hovering at the tip of her nose. It was an iron mace.

"Filia-San." Amelia whispered breathlessly at the woman standing in between her and Sherra. Filia stared at the blue-haired woman and curved her shapely eyebrows to the center. She was quite angry.

"Lina Inverse is not the only one you need to be concerned about." She said coldly and stood her ground when Sherra jumped back. Filia grabbed the ends of her dress skirt and flung it off her body, revealing her combat clothes. Taking a step back at the sight of the HMG that was hidden so well under Filia's dress, Sherra could see the murderous transformation manifesting before her eyes. Filia lifted her large weapon easily with one hand while Amelia joined her on the right, clenching her monster fists. Behind her, Zelgadiss was lifting to his feet, ignoring the blood leaving his cut. Sherra glanced between the three. She could handle three highly skilled hunters simultaneously but with the Bandit Killer coming back at a moment's notice with Lithium bullets, she knew that this was one mission that she had to fail. Transforming her blades back to her normal appendages, Sherra slipped her fingers beneath her belt and took out a tiny glass ball with shimmering gem pieces inside.

"Technology will overthrow humanity and the Outlaw Four will be named your lords." She said with a smile and flung the ball at her feet. The glass broke at contact and a large puff of black smoke developed around Sherra. The intense smell and heaviness of the smog made Amelia and Zelgadiss cough while Filia rushed determined into the smoke.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" However, Sherra had escaped flawlessly and left Val to clean up the rest of the mess. When the smoke eventually evaporated, Filia stopped at the awful sight of her son, she was about to break into tears again until Val turned his head and let out a monstrous screech. This was not her son, she believed and sucked the wetness from her eyes. He moved to his feet and slowly stalked to her. Bursting from behind the trees, Lina finally arrived but with Martina and Zangulas in cargo. The two ladies were in the middle of arguing with one another with Zangulas trying to split them apart when they were quickly interrupted with Val's intense scream.

"Shoot him now! At his arm!" Zelgadiss shouted and Lina swiped her revolver from Martina's hand. She expertly shot three rounds in his mechanical arm and another one at the connecting joint where his human flesh came in contact with the metal. The blasts made Val stumble a few steps back and a sudden change in his atrocious face, but he kept standing. The hunters stood anxiously, waiting if the lithium will change him immediately. Filia swallowed a wad of nervous spit and took a step forward.

"Val?" She called and Val lifted his face to her. He watched as she slowly walked over and reached her hand to him. "Val, is… is it you?" It happened too fast. Amelia and Martina let out a sharp scream when Val slapped Filia across her face with his new arm. It looked like the Lithium did not work. Filia skidded across the ground from just one mighty slap, stopping only a few feet away and Val started to close in on her.

"WHAT NOW, RED?" Zangulas took his sword out and turned to her. "KILL HIM OR NOT?"

"VAL!" Lina screamed for his attention however Val was too concentrated on getting to Filia's unconscious body. She kept screaming his name and yet, he continued to stumble his way to his mother, reaching out to her with his ravaging claws. There was no other option. She had to do it.

"I'M SORRY, VAL!" Lina cried aloud and released the rest of the Lithium bullets into his back. It stopped Val instantly but he kept standing. At that, Zangulas flashed across the field and sliced Val's mechanical arm off. In that horrifying second, the rapier that had entered his body was finally detached from Val, as well as the spell that took over his sanity. In that final second, his cold silver eyes returned to its original color and a sigh of release escaped his lips. His arm fell first and then, the rest of his being. Red liquid pooled around his body while the beating of his heart tremendously slowed down. At last, Val let out a rattling noise from deep in his throat and closed his eyes.

The master swordsman stared at the gory sight of the teenager whom he babysat on weekends and closed his eyes gently. He went to one knee and lowered his head, grieving and softly whispering his sorrow. Martina rushed quickly over and grabbed her husband's tense shoulders. She hugged him from behind and joined in his silent kneel, weeping aggressively. Lina remained still. She had her weapon up and her finger pressing hard against the trigger, aiming at Val's bloody back.

It was only when someone lowered the revolver for her did she snap out of her daze. Standing next to her was Filia, she had regain conscious and had saw the remains of her son. She held Lina's revolver in her hand and was staring longingly at it.

"Lina." Filia said her name and Lina responded with a soft hum. "It's alright."

"I just murdered your son, Filia." Lina whispered. Shifting her eyes over Lina's weapon, Filia broke her lips into a smirk and shook her head. "How can it be alright?"

"What you murdered wasn't Val." She looked up and fully smiled at Lina. "You did all you can and, in the end," Filia handed her back the revolver. "Val wasn't strong enough to overcome the evil influence."

"If you are just saying that to make me feel better-"

"Just accept the gratitude, Lina." Zelgadiss barked loudly, causing Lina to snort at him. Filia sighed and turned to face her dead son. She walked calmly to his body and knelt at his side. Her fingers fixed his hair to its rightful place while she stared at the serene look on his pale face. Tears slipped out of Filia's eyes and began to choke for she had hard time breathing.

"Stupid boy…" She bent down and laid her lips upon his cheek, withdrawing slowly since it was the last time she was going to kiss him.

"Shall I carry him-"

"No." Filia stopped Zangulas from touching her boy. "The last thing he'd want is for everyone to see him like this." She moved to her heels and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"Leave him here until this silly chaos is over." It was already morning when they finally covered Val's entire body with leaves gathered from the forest floor and for some reason, the crack of dawn never felt lonelier. Saillune was in disarray, Val is dead, Xellos is dead, and Gourry is gone. Lina turned her head to the couples holding each other. Martina and Zangulas looked longingly at each other, whispering soft lines of love and apologies. And although, the other two were considered half machine, Zelgadiss and Amelia nuzzled one another's neck. Even Filia, who had lost the most important thing in her life, was holding Pokota and he held her back like a lost son. Lina grabbed the shimmering ring that dangled around her neck and grasped it tightly.

If Gourry were here, she began, maybe this entire situation would've been avoided and Val wouldn't be dead. If Gourry were here, he could've easily stopped Sherra and prevented this from happening. Val would still be alive and she would've have done such a terrible thing. Lina lifted her eyes to the breaking sunlight coming to view and sighed. However, Gourry wasn't here and that was her fault.

* * *

Blood dripped down from the multiple gunshot wounds all over her body. General Sherra shuffled her tiny body past the abundant of overgrown trees and fell to the ground when she cough a chunk of blood with used mass of Lithium. She looked over her blood dressed over her palm and scowled. Judging by the heaviness of the coal-like minerals, her time was almost up. Moving her body so it was well hidden behind a tree, Sherra undressed her heavy shoulder plates and metal skirt. She was tending to her bleeding sores when a soft sigh interrupted her thoughts and she quickly spun to her feet, her right arm changed into a blade.

Standing nonchalantly by the tree was a fully-covered heavy armored metal figure, dressed with a royal blue cape strapped to its shoulder plates and an elegant helmet that covered its entire head but its dark navy eyes flashed vibrantly though the helmet visor. Sherra fell immediately to her knees at the sight of this covered knight and curled her body forward as best as she could.

"M-My lord." Her voice trembled. It was obvious that she feared this figure who merely just sighed. Almost instantaneous, Sherra began to apologize. "I apologize, my lord. I have failed miserably and-and I deserve every punishment that waits at your hand. But please, my lord, just allow me to try again and I promise I won't make a fool out of your gracious name. Please, my lord, please let me try-"

"Enough." A smooth and yet, stern male voice echoed from her lord's helmet. Sherra stapled her lips shut and pressed her face against the dirt. Her eyes squeezed tight in fear when she heard metal rubbing against each other and heavy chainmail clanking. Her lord was moving and from the sound of his armor boots hitting on the ground, he was walking around her. "You have failed your mission."

"I-I know, my lord-"

"I am quite displeased with you." He stopped in front of her trembling hands and looked down at the growing pool of blood around her body. "Is this why you have failed?" He saw the used Lithium chunks in her blood. "Because of insufficient funds?"

"I have only a month left, my lord." Sherra continued to keep her head lowered. "Please, allow this waste to maintain her service to you." Her lord let out a snort and turned away from her groveling body.

"The reason why I keep you, Sherra, is because you continuously endow me with valuable information." He stepped a few feet away as Sherra sat her body up and stared at him with worried eyes. After a few silent seconds, Sherra's lord turned around and met her hesitant expression. "Don't allow this to happen again."

"I'll risk my life before I allow another mission to fail." Sherra bowed once more, but with a smile on her face. The metal lord turned away from her once again and walked past a few trees to a little clearing that overlooked the top of Saillune. He stood at the edge and looked down. Entering through the front entrance was Lina and her team, leading the townspeople back to their destroyed home.

"Annoying little girl, isn't she?" The covered man smirked beneath his metal helmet at the sound of the feminine voice and moved his view to the character sitting on a large boulder, next to him. The crossed-legged woman dramatically brushed her long blonde heavy curls off her shoulder and showed off her slim figure. Wearing a very loose white material that wrapped around her body like a kimono, the sides cut at the start of her evenly-tan long legs and held to her body with a thick gold sash that matched her gold bangles and anklets. She took a long suck from her lengthy cigarette holder and elegantly blew her smoke at the large metal man's face.

"It's been awhile, Supreme King Dynast."

"Greater Beast Master Zelas." Supreme King said the beautiful woman's name with a nod.

"What gives me the honor," The woman slipped off her seat on the boulder and stopped directly in front of him. "And the pleasure," She smiled seductively with a flash of her white teeth. Watching from behind, Sherra glared at the woman's sudden attractiveness to her lord. "To see you in my land?" Zelas asked and batted her red eyes generously. The man stayed perfectly still.

"Lina Inverse." He said in a monotone way.

"Lina Inverse is my problem." Zelas rolled her eyes. She quickly turned around and pressed her back against Dynast's breast plate, looking up at his navy eyes with a smile. "Unless… you want to make me your problem?"

"He is worried." Dynast moved away from Zelas's seductive body, making her pout. "He sent me here to analyze your efforts in eliminating Lina Inverse and her meddling friends." He paused to look at Saillune again before looking back at Zelas. "Why haven't you eliminated Lina Inverse yet?"

"I find her existence to be entertaining, at best." Zelas walked past him with her nose in the air and jumped on top of her boulder. She sat down, crossing her long nude legs and smoking her cigarette.

"Your lord demands her eradication. Do you deny him?"

"I don't deny his leadership or thoughts of removing all humanity." She said and rudely blew her smoke at his helmet again. "I'm just lazy."

"Please excuse her supercilious manner, Dynast." Suddenly, another tall woman stepped out from the trees and walked to the two lords, in her hand was a double-bladed long spear. Wearing a light blue, off the shoulder and long sleeve dress with a black corset, this woman came with shoulder-length blue hair and diamond dangling earrings. She stopped next to Dynast and looked at Zelas with a smirk. "She just lost her favorite pet in a cat fight with our lowly servant."

"What are YOU doing in my land?" Zelas glared at the new woman.

"I summoned her." Dynast stepped in between the two ladies. Zelas snorted while the other woman just continued to smile.

"Dolphin," The blue-haired woman moved her eyes at Dynast. "Have you located a new vessel for our lord?"

"My Riksfalto is following the said vessel into the South as we speak." She replied with a bow and Zelas released another snort. "And as I predicted," Dolphin giggled. "Gourry Gabriev has all the qualities and components that our lord requests. He will make a very good vessel for a very long time."

"About time." Zelas scoffed loudly and crossed her arms. "I'm getting tired of following orders from a 10 year old."

"Desperate times called for desperate measures." The other woman snarled.

"Desperate and twisted enough to make a 10 year old into a killing machine."

"Show some intelligence, Zelas!" Dolphin barked and raised her long weapon across Dynast's face and to the tip of Zelas's nose. "Without that boy's body, our lord would have perished a long time ago!" Zelas just rolled her eyes, totally fearless of the weapon presented to her nose.

"Enough, Dolphin." Dynast grabbed the long weapon and pulled it away from Zelas's face. "We are gathered here to discuss the matter of Lina Inverse and the robot child from Taforashia."

"Yes," Dolphin snorted and set her weapon next to her black ankle boots. "The robot child from Taforashia who holds the secret about the Lithium mines. Shall I dispose of Lina Inverse and take the robot child to my laboratory? He will speak the moment my devices touches his body."

"I will dispose of Lina Inverse and bring the robot child to his knees." Zelas got off of her boulder and stood hands to her hips next to the two lords.

"No." Dynast spoke loudly over the two ladies, quickly stopping them from glaring at one another. "You have already failed to dispose of Lina Inverse, Zelas, and you, Dolphin, must prepare the extraction chamber for the new vessel." He crossed his metal gauntlets together over his chest. "I will take care of Lina Inverse and the robot child."

"Is that understood?" He asked when the two ladies kept silent at his forward request. They nodded to each other.

"Allow my Huraker to assist you." Appearing instantly behind Dolphin's side, a young woman in a matching blue dress with a metal bow strapped around her body bowed to Dolphin, and at Dynast. "She will be most helpful to you." Dynast nodded and motioned his new servant away. Slowly, Dolphin turned around and left while Zelas leaped off the ledge to another location, leaving Dynast alone with Sherra.

"My lord?" Sherra crept closer to Dynast. "What of the robot army, my lord?" She asked behind him. "Someone must command them and I am unworthy to hold such a position."

"It seems, Sherra," Dynast spoke sternly. "You will have another chance to kill Lina Inverse." This made Sherra's mouth widen into a smile and quickly, Sherra thanked him for his kindness. She stopped immediately when he turned around and beckoned her to come closer. Hesitant and yet honored to be so close to him, Sherra moved so she was standing an inch away from his breastplate. A sudden warmness erupted over her nose when his right gauntlet moved and rested on her slim and non-armored shoulder. His metal thumb lowered to the gunshot wound on top of her chest and gently, he rubbed it.

"I do not trust the brotherhood, Sherra." He suddenly spoke and his voice appeared softer than before. Sherra looked up at the only thing that defined him, his deep navy eyes. "The knowledge that Lina Inverse had gotten from Xellos was no accident." Sherra nodded and gulped when he moved his hand to her cheek, he grazed her skin with his armored fingers.

"The Outlaw Four could be infiltrated by humans." This made Sherra gasp. "Watch Huraker closely, Sherra, for I no longer trust my sisters." Sherra quickly nodded her head and blushed when he touched her lower lip.

"You are the only one that I trust."

"M-My lord…" Flattered by his remark, Sherra embarrassingly closed her eyes and moved closer. She pressed her face against his metal breastplate and sighed in great happiness as he held her with one arm wrapped around her back. Just a distance away, tucked in the darkness of the trees, the man in the straw hat watched. The second Dynast and Sherra walked from his sight, he sprinted out of the trees and traveled down a hill. He tore through the deep forest and cut in between a large valley, and there, on the other side, stood before him a grand size lake that no one in Saillune knew. And standing at the water's edge, was Zelas and lying at her feet was the deceased son of Filia Ul Copt.

"What did you learn?" Zelas did not bother to look at the mystery man. She was too concentrated on staring at Val's peaceful expression.

"He suspects something." The man's previous rough and tattered voice had changed into a very familiar tone. Zelas scoffed lightly and knelt next to Val's body.

"Dynast is not a fool." She said as she touched Val's cold cheek. "But, he will prove to be of great use."

"And the boy?" Her cohort stepped to her side, his wooden staff purposely bumped into the side of her arm. This made Zelas smirk and she finally looked at him.

"He has already accepted the Lithium."


	22. Chapter 22 Unforgettable Emotion

Chapter 22 - Unforgettable Emotion

Life on a farm was just what Gourry needed. Away from hunting criminals and away from Saillune altogether, Gourry was finally able to smile for the first time. Happily eating Sylphiel's cooking and helping groom her crops of vegetation, Gourry had been in the South for a few days and despite that he was alone most of the time, he loved looking up at the changing skies and seeing only the clouds, nothing else. It told him that his heart is healing. Slowly and yet, surely, it is healing.

For Sylphiel, though, she was worried about Gourry and his obligations to Saillune. She still didn't know why Gourry was with her but had an idea that it was about Lina for whenever she mentioned her, Gourry would get silent and not answer back. There were still troubling factors and Sylphiel wanted to get to the bottom of it before she allowed her heart to continuing growing.

"Gourry-Sama." Gourry was in the kitchen, eating alone on the table when Sylphiel spotted him. He looked up immediately at her voice and smiled. Even his smiles, Sylphiel sighed, seemed forced and fake. She pulled out a chair next to him and sat down. Gourry quickly engaged a conversation about the crops and though Sylphiel enjoyed talking to him about it, she decided to change the subject.

"I could tell that you love farming, Gourry-Sama."

"I used to be a farmer when I was little with my dad." He said with a great smile.

"And you are always welcomed to stay here." She replied with her smile and Gourry nodded. "But," She watched him shove bits of food into his mouth. "But, what about Saillune? What about… Lina?" She finally asked and almost immediately, Gourry stopped eating.

"What about your life with Lina?" She asked again but Gourry ignored her. He resumed eating but the plate was already clean so he stared at the empty dish in front of him.

"Please, Gourry-Sama." Sylphiel reached over and touched his hand; he moved his eyes to her gentle fingers. "Please tell me what happened between you and… her." Gourry slowly looked up at Sylphiel's worried expression and sighed. It was unfair to keep Sylphiel in the dark if she was sharing so much of her life with him.

"Lina." He started quietly. "She went to bed with another man." Sylphiel released a sudden gasp.

"Oh no…" She placed a hand over her chest and shook her head. "I never thought… Lina…"

"Me too." Gourry shrugged his shoulders and lowered his eyes back to his plate. "I'm sorry, Sylphiel."

"For what?"

"For barging into your life-"

"No, no, no!" Sylphiel quickly said and moved closer to his side. She grabbed his hands off the table and held it in hers.

"If anything, you are actually making my life worthwhile." Sylphiel giggled and Gourry stared at her with sudden shock. Blushing now with a smile, Sylphiel embarrassingly looked away from his face and to their entwined hands.

"I want you to stay, Gourry-Sama."

"Really?" Gourry asked and Sylphiel nodded shyly.

"Of course. I want you to stay as long as you want." Swallowing a brave gulp, Sylphiel met with blue eyes and blushed harder.

"I want to take care of the wounds that Lina left and hopefully," She got extremely nervous again and looked back down. "I-I can… I can be the reason why you want to stay here." Gourry continued to stare at Sylphiel's shy demeanor. He never knew how much Sylphiel cared for him.

"Sylphiel… I'm so glad that you are in my life." Instantly, the redness on Sylphiel's face glowed brighter and she looked at him when he pulled their hands to his chin.

"Thank you for being the most passionate and kindest person I know."

"G-Gourry-Sama…" Sylphiel squirmed uneasily at his words. She let out a few nervous giggles and shrugged her shoulders. "I-I don't… I don't think I am-"

"No, you are." Gourry nodded and while staring at her shy expression, he sighed. "Why didn't I fall in love with you first?" Her eyes widen at his sudden question. She was stunned and when she looked at him fully in his eyes, Gourry let go of her hands and reached over to her face. He touched her cheek gently and ran his rough fingers against her flustered skin.

"Is it too late for us?" He asked so softly that Sylphiel could barely hear it. However, she did hear it and was completely overwhelmed. She shook her head lightly and trembled when his lips widen into a smile.

"Sylphiel." He whispered her name and leaned forward. Her eyelids fluttered closed and kept extremely still as Gourry bent his head and pressed their lips together for the first time.

* * *

The morning light burned through the covered curtains and irritated Gourry's closed eyes until he moved his head and opened them. Snuggled in his arm was Sylphiel and she was naked. He was naked too and silently, Gourry watched this amazing woman sleep next to him. Running his calloused fingers through her silky long hair, Gourry stopped his hand next to her face and gently touched her cheek.

Unlike Lina, Sylphiel slept next to him the entire night. She did not go to the bathroom and wash their love off. And unlike Lina, Sylphiel confessed her long and waiting love for him. It felt good to feel loved and Gourry loved that it came from Sylphiel. But, like Lina, Gourry didn't say it back.

"Hi…" Gourry greeted when her eyes opened slowly. She smiled at him and cuddled closer to his warmth while he wrapped his muscular arms tighter around her curvy body.

"Gourry-Sama…" Sylphiel sighed in deep happiness and rubbed her face against his broad chest. "I'm so happy." He smirked at her sudden confession and gently nudged his chin to her forehead. Moving his eyes to the corner of his room, he let out a deep sigh at the sight of the covered weapon leaning against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Me too."

* * *

Several days past and everything changed between Gourry and Sylphiel.

They began to open more towards each other and discovered that they had a lot in common. It was finally looking up for Gourry. He was more energetic, more optimistic, and smiling more often. But, every day, he'd look at the covered weapon in the corner of his room and remembered the last time he saw Lina's face. How hurt she looked for his sudden abandonment. He'll spend a few minutes thinking over his decision of moving to the South with Sylphiel.

Did he make the right decision? Of course he did, Gourry was happier here. But, Gourry would always ask himself, did he really make the right decision? A few days ago, he saw dark smoke coming from the direction where Saillune was located and heard from the southern townspeople that there was trouble going on in the East.

Then, the morning of, when he was digging into the ground, he spotted a large group of people traveling past the farmhouse. He recognized them instantly as people from Saillune and was about to call them over until he saw sharp silver shards erupting from two of the travelers bodies. They looked like monsters but were walking alongside of their fellow comrades. When he got close enough, Gourry heard one of them say that moving to the South was the best idea that they had.

"It is certainly better than Saillune in its current state." The man leading the pack continued to speak.

"But, father, don't you feel any remorse to the people who stayed behind?" His daughter asked next to him. "I heard that Mayor Saillune is going to migrate to Taforashia with everyone."

"Taforashia." The man scoffed loudly. "What is that man thinking? There is nothing but SAVAGES there."

"But the boy who is friends with Lina Inverse said that it would be safer-"

"What does he know? He's a savage too!"

"But, Lina said-"

"No buts!" He argued with his daughter and continued to speak but Gourry had already walked away. Now, sitting on his bed's edge, Gourry stared intently at the dressed weapon in the corner of his room.

He repeatedly remembered what that man had said to his daughter in his head and visualized terror on the faces of his dear friends in Saillune. His eyes instantly shut when he pictured Lina's face covered in blood and pain.

"Stop it." Gourry told himself and pounded his fist into his head. Why is he envisioning such terrible images? Everyone in Saillune is fine and so is Lina. And besides, Gourry looked back at the covered weapon, he's still angry at Lina. Yes, he will always be angry at her. Yet, Gourry continued to see the faces of his friends in his mind. For what seemed like eternity, he closed the large gap between him and the weapon, finally taking it to his hands. Untying the string that kept everything covered and tight, the thick tarp dropped to the ground when he uncovered the sword from beneath.

The sheath was made out of metal and dressed with tiny gems of diamonds. The moment he took the blade out, Gourry immediately expressed his amazement aloud. The long double-edge blade was thick and sharp. Made with precision craftsmanship, his eyes widen to see through the blade. It was made with tungsten and diamond but there was an unfamiliar magenta glint when he moved the blade into the sunlight. He didn't know it then, but the sword was all incorporated with active Lithium.

Gourry was running his thumb against the edge of the sword when Sylphiel began to call him from the kitchen. He replied hurriedly and shoved the open blade back into the sheath, and threw it under his bed.

"There you are, Gourry-Sama." Sylphiel found him in his bedroom, fumbling with a dark piece of cloth in his hands. Throwing it across the room and into a pile of dirty laundry, Gourry smiled innocently and accepted her quick kiss on his lips.

"I need a few things from the market. Can you pick them up for me? I'll make you that apple pie that you love so much as a reward."

"S-Sure." He said and grabbed his jacket from his bed. "Um," Gourry panicked when Sylphiel bent down to grab a pillow that he had dropped while hiding the sword. Next to the pillow, poking from under his bed was the sword's handle.

"I got that, Sylphiel." He rushed forward and swiped the pillow from the ground, as well as push the sword further under the bed. Sylphiel stared at the nervous look on his face and raised her slender eyebrow.

"Are you alright, Gourry-Sama?"

"Yes. I am." He nodded.

"Okay." She giggled and kissed him again on the mouth. "The list is on the kitchen table. Don't forget to grab it." Gourry released a heavy and relieved sigh when she cheerfully walked out the room and sat back down on the bed.

He didn't want Sylphiel to know that he was thinking about Saillune for he didn't want her to think that he was going back- because he wasn't. Gourry ran his hands against his face. He's never going back to Saillune so he tried to make the faces of his friends disappear again. When he finally did, Gourry stood up and left the room.

"Gourry-Sama." Sylphiel watched Gourry ride his horse down the road and walked back into the house. "I wonder what got him so worked up this morning." She wondered and returned to her chores. In the middle of cleaning the abundant of dishes in the kitchen, Sylphiel suddenly thought of something that made her snap the dirty plate that she was cleaning in half.

"W-What if…" Her face burned red. "He's thinking of… proposing?" She asked loudly and envisioned wedding bells clanking in the background with her newlywed husband carrying her in a white dress. Sylphiel let out a sharp high-pitch squeal and bounced excitedly. She giggled like a high school girl and shook her head.

"Oh, Sylphiel, don't be so childish." She told herself but with a big smile. As she returned to her dirty dishes and began to stack them on a rack, Sylphiel immediately stopped working when she heard the front door open.

"Gourry-Sama?" She turned her head and saw the list she had left for Gourry on the table. Sylphiel giggled. He came back for the list.

"Silly Gourry-Sama, he is so forgetful." She rinsed off the soap from her hands and dried them off quickly. Grabbing the long list from the table, Sylphiel stepped out of the kitchen and expected to see her tall lover. Except, standing in the middle of the room, was a woman instead and she held a very wide and long sword on her shoulder. She held a photo of Sylphiel and Gourry in her hand.

"What a perfect couple." The strange woman with the green shoulder length hair giggled. She stared at the photo with playful light blue eyes. Sylphiel glanced between the heavy sword on the woman's shoulder and her wicked smile.

Who is this woman?

* * *

Gourry was going back for the list that Sylphiel prepared. He was casually riding his horse when the house at the end of the road suddenly burst into flames, releasing a dark cloud to the sky. Gourry's throat closed immediately. It wasn't just anyone's house. It was Sylphiel's house.

He kicked the sides of his horse hard and rode fast to the burning home. He screamed for Sylphiel as he got nearby and threw himself off the large animal. Running up to the front door of the two-level home, he was just a few inches away from kicking the door down when another blast exploded and sent him flying backwards. He landed against the ground, skidding aggressively on his back. Gourry sat up quickly at the sound of another explosion and raced back to the house.

Screaming frantically for Sylphiel, he threw himself through the large flames and looked hysterical for her. She didn't answer to his calls, she didn't show up to his sights, she was nowhere. Gourry ran up the burning staircase and past every bedroom. He was just about to past his own room when he stopped himself and rushed in. He flung his bed to the wall and grabbed the hidden weapon on the hardwood floor. Another loud explosion was released and the entire house was breaking apart so Gourry hurled his body through his window from the second floor and landed harshly on the ground. He groaned instantly and slowly got up to his feet, holding his sword.

"SYLPHIEL!" Gourry called out for her and shuffled his sore body away from the burning house. He managed to get to a good few feet before falling back to the ground.

"SYLPHIEL!" He continued to call her desperately. The house was completely burnt to the ground in just mere seconds past and Gourry was still screaming for Sylphiel. He was in the middle of walking aimlessly around, using the sword to keep him on his feet, until he heard a loud crunch. He spun his head around. There was a woman standing in the middle of the road, crunching her teeth into a ripe apple, and next to her was another woman as tall as she. They were both staring at Gourry intently. The one eating the apple was holding her heavy sword on her shoulder and smiling as she ate while the other woman held a double-ended spear in her hand.

"Who…" Gourry glared at them. "Who are you?" The one with the apple chuckled softly and took a loud bite into her fruit.

"Let's play a game." The other woman in the long dress replied instead of answering his question. "You defeat my General and I'll let you go. But, if you don't, I get to keep you."

"I'm not a fighter anymore." Gourry growled. He realized that these two ladies must be the ones who burned down the house and taken Sylphiel. "Where's Sylphiel?"

"What's that sword in your hand then?" The woman with the apple pointed. Dumping the sword to the ground, Gourry carefully stood up straight.

"Where is Sylphiel?" He asked again but the woman with the apple shook her head with a 'tsk'.

"You better pick that up if you want to get your girl back." Stepping away from her partner, the woman revealed Sylphiel, unconscious and lying next to her feet with blood seeping out of a wound on her head.

An immediate rush of anger entered his blood stream and he foolishly charged, with no weapon in his hand. The woman with the spear sighed and brought her weapon to the air. With a big swing of her spear, she was able to change the wind current and shove Gourry off his feet without even touching him. He landed in the charred remains of the house but quickly got up on his feet, grabbing the closest thing to him which was a burnt wooden floorboard. The woman who initiated the attack scoffed at Gourry's persistence and turned away.

"Deal with him, Riksfalto." Dolphin lowered her spear back to her side and began to leave. "I want him in one piece." She mentioned and the girl with the green hair rolled her eyes. She tossed the finished apple core away and finally lifted her heavy thick sword off her shoulder. A drip of sweat fell from Gourry's temple when the sword extended towards him.

It was unlike any sword he ever saw and bigger than any weapon. Gourry knew he wasn't going to win against her with a plank of burned wood so he glanced at the sword he threw on the ground. He had to get to it. And so, he took a careful step toward the sword while keeping close watch over Riksfalto. She was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk on her lips. Gourry glanced between her heavy weapon and her casual expression. The weapon must weigh over a thousand pounds so obviously, it's going to weigh her down. And so, with a huge lunge, Gourry raced to where his sword laid. Just when he was just inches away from grabbing the handle, Riksfalto appeared over his weapon and her sword pulled back, ready to swing. Gourry's eyes widen at her sudden appearance and did not have time to pull back, therefore watched her thick and wide sword coming straight to his stomach. It wasn't a double-edge sword so when the edge of the sword struck against the pit of his stomach, it didn't puncture into his body but the mighty strength behind the weapon did send him flying in the air.

While falling back to the ground, Riksfalto set her sword on her shoulder and took a few steps backwards. The moment Gourry's body slammed against the ground, he created a large indent under his body and did not move. Riksfalto chuckled as she walked around his possibly broken body and knelt next to his head.

"So, this is the famous Bandit Killer's Idiot Stooge, the Master Swordsman in the East." She reached over and twisted Gourry's face to her. Shaking her head, Riksfalto sighed and released her hold on the back of his head; Gourry's head immediately fell back to the ground.

"I thought you were going to be more fun than this." Riksfalto stood up and looked down at him as he struggled to move. When Gourry lifted his body with the use of his hands, he let out a hard cough of blood from his mouth and dropped back down to the ground.

"What a waste of my time." Riksfalto moved her heavy sword off her shoulder and stabbed it halfway into the dirt, standing it up on its own. Free of the heavy weight, Riksfalto grabbed Gourry by his golden long hair again and dragged him out of the crater. She dumped his worn body to where his sword was located and kicked him lightly on the side.

"Come on." She nudged the bottom of her sandal against his cheek. "You still have fight in you." Riksfalto smirked when Gourry lifted his hand and pushed her foot away.

"Now, pick up your weapon." Gourry panted heavily as he turned his body and reached for the sword next to him. He grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it against his chest, clinging to it like a child.

"Get up." Riksfalto ordered. "Get up and defend your title, Master Swordsman." Gourry said nothing but continue to hold the sword. "Get up, you stupid shit. Get up and fight me or your precious girlfriend is going to die."

"S-Syl…" That immediately took effect and Gourry's shaky body struggled to sit up.

"That's right." Riksfalto snickered and walked back to her sword. "Get up and fight to your last breath." She turned around and set her fists against her hips.

"I'll even give you the first hit. Come on, Master Swordsman, hit me." And she tapped a finger between her muscular breasts. "Hit me right here."

"You are so weak." Riksfalto laughed when Gourry stumbled forward and caught himself from falling back to the ground. "Weak and pathetic." She insulted as he coughed another load of blood from his mouth.

"It must suck to be you. The woman who healed your heart is going to die, just like the woman who betrayed it." The mention of Lina made Gourry instantly look up from the dirt.

"Oh yes, Lina Inverse." Riksfalto smiled evilly. "She's dead."

"Wha…" Gourry's eyes widen. Lina is dead?

"She died at my hands." Lifting her right hand in front of her, she giggled.

"This hand went right through her chest and grabbed her tiny heart." And she curled her fingers into a tight fist. "That's right. I killed her and all your pathetic little friends. I killed the renowned Lina Inverse with this fist and the others with my blade."

"Li…" Almost immediately, Gourry started to hyperventilate. His eyebrows curled and teeth grinded hard against each other, he could feel his blood boiling aggressively and his rage shoving past through all his other emotions.

"Lin…" He was more upset, more angry, more of everything than he ever felt before.

'Lina is dead. Lina is dead. Lina is dead. Lina is dead. Lina is dead. Lina is dead.' His mind chanted. Lina Inverse is dead and Gourry released a loud roar, making Riksfalto tilt her head to the side.

"LINA!" He screamed and sprung to his feet, expertly sliding the sheath to his sword off with a swing. Riksfalto let out a yelp when Gourry raced at her, he stabbed forward with the beautiful sword and she dodged in the last second.

"That's it!" Riksfalto smiled and kept up with his intense surge of power. "I killed your Lina!"

"LINA!" Gourry kept screaming her name and continued to catch Riksfalto with his blade.

"LINA!" Riksfalto snickered, she professionally dodged his every slice and cut, even blocking some of it with the side of her muscular arm. They continued this duel until Gourry slipped against the ground and fell to his side. Riksfalto remained bouncing on the tips of her toes, cheerfully dancing with a large smile on her face.

"If I knew that the mention of your true love's death would throw you over the edge, I would've done it earlier!" She snickered and stopped bouncing when she noticed Gourry not moving. "Are you serious? We've just started!"

"Li… na…" Gourry whispered with her face pressed against his bicep. His entire body was completely worn out and spent, he couldn't move even if he wanted too. Riksfalto let out a heavy sigh. She closed the distance between them and grabbed Gourry by the back of his head, and with a quick move, she threw his body over her shoulder.

"Fine." She snorted and began walking toward where her sword was still sticking out from the ground. "I'll just have to play with you later." Just as she wrapped her fingers around her thin sword's handle, Riksfalto stopped immediately at a soft noise behind her. She turned her head around and saw a slender and feminine figure, wearing only in tight black clothing, standing there.

Every inch was covered in black except for a pair of red eyes on the slender woman's face. Riksfalto stared at her and looked down at the weapon on her waist. Only a handheld sickle with a chain attached to the end of it. She released a loud scoff and turned away.

"Waste of my time." Riksfalto replied and when she turned around, she raised her eyebrow to see the same woman standing on the other side of her heavy sword. She glanced back at where she was previous and to her face again, there was only one of her. Riksfalto stared at the intense look on her eyes and flashed her one of her evil smirks.

"So," She looked over her thin and curvy figure. "You want to play?"

"No." She spoke and with a sudden strike of her right arm, she plucked Riksfalto right eyeball out of her socket. Riksfalto saw her own eyeball pop between her fingers before letting out a shattering scream. She released Gourry and covered her bleeding eye-hole with both palms. The woman caught Gourry before he hit the ground and set his heavy arm around her own shoulders. She began to walk away but as she was, Riksfalto started to laugh and she turned around to look at her.

"YOU DIDN'T WIN YET." She laughed with her right eyelid tightly closed and Sylphiel's hair tightly spun around her fist. Just in time, Gourry's eyes fluttered open and saw Sylphiel, he raised his head as fast as he can and reached his hand out.

"N-No… Sylphiel…"

"COME TO THE WEST, GOURRY GABRIEV." Riksfalto grabbed Sylphiel's thin chin and shook her unconscious face at him. "OR THIS ONE DIES!" She screeched and threw a glass ball at her feet. Dark smoke erupted and Riksfalto fled laughing. Gourry shook his head; he shoved away from the woman and struggled on his feet.

"No… Not Sylphiel… Not her too…" Tears began to drip from his eyes when he dropped to the ground. His body landed heavily against the dirt, literally knocking him unconscious. The mystery woman stared at the injured man for a silent minute. Eventually, she went to his side, grabbed the ends of his long hair and dragged him behind her to the deep forest, the opposite direction from where Riksfalto ran too.

* * *

Night raids were growing frequently so Phil had no choice but to transfer his people to another location, to Taforashia. Pokota had already sent a parchment and readied his town for their arrival. Martina and Zangulas agreed to stick with Phil and the surviving townspeople, just in case the robots turn their focus to them. With Phil leading the movement, everyone in Saillune left the destroyed settlement, except for a handful of brave warriors. Amelia watched from the entrance of Saillune, her eyes widen when her father looked back at her and showed off his large smile and curled bicep. She replied with the same act and giggled. Eventually, her father disappeared from sight and Amelia sighed wearily.

"Your father is a great man." Pokota said from behind. Amelia turned around to face him. "He makes a very good Chief."

"Of course." Amelia giggled. "My Daddy is the Justice Fighter of the East!" She proudly explained with a fist in the air and Pokota just looked at her with great confusion. Filia's shop was the first house that was hit during the night raid and now, with Saillune completely deserted, the bounty hunters moved their safe house to the center of Saillune, in the middle of a park. Fenced with blocks of cement and heavy bags of sand, they stayed there morning and evening in close counters. Lina turned her head instantly when Amelia and Pokota hopped over the five foot fence and rushed to the small peephole.

"Everyone got out safely?" She asked as she checked if anyone had followed them.

"There are five of them roaming around the north and east division but we avoided all of them." Pokota explained and gathered his wooden bow. "I'm going back to see if there are more."

"Zel and Filia are already doing that." Lina left the peephole and return shining her revolver. Amelia sighed loudly and sat against the fenced wall; she grabbed the large shard of diamond from her black pouch and started grinding down the current silver knobs on her knuckles while Pokota sat next to her.

"It's getting smaller." Pokota muttered.

"Yes." Amelia nodded. "But I'm afraid Zelgadiss-San's patches are staying put."

"Did the tungsten grow elsewhere or just his face?"

"It grew where most of his burns were located." She mentioned as she continued to grind. "Which is everywhere on his body."

"I thought he looked scary with the burns. Now, he looks…" Pokota's voice trailed dead when Amelia stopped what she was doing and looked at him. He gulped and lowered his eyes.

"Sorry."

"It's alright, Pokota-San." Amelia and Pokota quickly looked up when Filia and Zelgadiss hopped over the fence. "In my opinion, he's more handsome." She said loudly catching Zelgadiss's attention. Zelgadiss smirked at her loud confession and checked the peephole while Filia crept to Lina.

"We found seventeen altogether." Filia sat down and grabbed her unfinished cup of tea.

"SEVENTEEN?" Lina, Pokota, and Amelia loudly repeated and Filia nodded.

"Here comes one." Zelgadiss voiced and quickly, Lina ran over with her sniper rifle.

"At your 1 o'clock." He mentioned while Lina stuck the tip of her rifle through the hole and moved to his directions. There, slowly stepping in view was a behemoth metal robot with all sorts of weaponry attached to its body. It was aimlessly walking into a destroyed shopping center, stepping through the roofs and thrashing aggressively against the thick cement walls. Lina aimed at the robot's chest using her crosshairs and pumped a long sharp bullet into the chamber. Seconds later, the bullet burst into the robot's metal chest and fell backwards, ultimately destroying its inner mechanics.

"Can I get the next one?" Amelia asked softly. Lina turned her head and released a loud snort.

"Have you past your revolver test?"

"With all this going on, Lina-San, I believe it shouldn't matter anymore." She said but Lina continued to stare at her intently. "No, I did not pass." Amelia admitted.

"Then should you really be asking?" Lina questioned and Amelia returned to her grinding. That night, Lina and Filia were keeping watch in the barricade while Pokota ran into town to get supplies. Snuggled under the same blanket, Zelgadiss and Amelia cuddled in each other's warmth, softly kissing and whispering. Eventually, they did fall asleep and Filia smiled to see Zelgadiss holding Amelia so openly.

"Isn't it funny how something so disastrous can create such bond?" She asked softly and looked at Lina. Lina was looking at Zelgadiss and Amelia too, but with a deep frown.

"I had sex with another man." Lina suddenly said. "That's why Gourry left."

"Lina…" Filia stared at her with such shock. "Why?"

"I don't know." She told her and took a drink of her lukewarm tea. When she put the cup down, Lina kept staring at Zelgadiss and Amelia's faces.

"With who?" Filia asked. Lina's lip trembled. This was the one part she didn't want to tell her.

"With Xellos." Lina whispered. Dead silence interrupted their conversation. The cup in Filia's hand lightly shook. A clog developed in Filia's throat and slowly, she placed her teacup down against the grass and smoothed out her combat clothes.

"I see." She said almost quietly as she got up to her feet and walked to her collection of heavy weapons.

"I'm sorry, Filia." Lina kept her eyes lowered. "I swear, if I knew about your feelings for him, I wouldn't-"

"F-Feelings?" Filia repeated with a scoff. "I never had FEELINGS for that robot." She began strapping on her flamethrower. Lina looked up at her and tried to say something but Filia quickly interrupted.

"I'm being honest. I never had FEELINGS for him or any other guy." She hung her shoulder propelled rocket launcher around her shoulders and grabbed the iron mace from the wall.

"I'm going to use the restroom." Filia quickly said and jumped over the wall, preventing Lina from seeing the terrible set of water filling her eyes. Instead of going to the nearby building with the workable restroom, Filia ran to the end of the park and stopped next to a broken bench. She dropped her knees to the ground and crossed her arms over the seat, burying her face. Softly, she wept.

Lina cheated on Gourry with Xellos. Xellos, the robot that saved her life countless times and called her beautiful and made her feel it. She was right along; it really was all a trick. Filia's tears dripped heavily. She played right into and it was great that he died for she would've continued to twirl at the palm of his hand, but that didn't make her feel any better. In the end, even though she knew that he was only playing with her, she really wanted it to be true. She really wanted to believe in him. It would've been nice to have someone care for her, instead of always the other way around. It would've been nice to feel loved again.

As she cried, Filia didn't sense two pairs of eyes watching her from a distance. After a few minutes of sad tears, Filia wiped the water with the ends of her shirt and started back to the safety house. The two figures standing at the top of the building followed silently from building to building as she ran back to behind the thick man-made fence.

"There they are." Sherra spoke with a snort. "About time one of them lowers their guard." She looked at the shorter girl next to her and raised an eyebrow. Huraker, Dolphin's servant, was looking elsewhere.

"Is that the robot child?" She asked when Pokota rushed into view.

"Yes." Sherra and Huraker watched him run swiftly in zigzags. He rushed secretly past one of their heavy robots and into the park. Pokota hopped into the fenced area and after a few seconds, Huraker and Sherra turned their heads when the robot was blasted off his feet with a rocket propeller.

"What a waste of Lithium." Sherra commented loudly. "My lord did not sacrifice his last parcel of Lithium for failed robots."

"You are just upset because he returned to the North without you." Huraker mentioned and snapped her fingers. Within seconds, robots from all over the destroyed town grouped around the park, hiding cleverly behind buildings.

"Your robots will not work. They have Lithium bullets that can go straight through Tungsten-"

"Don't lower my intelligence to your level, Sherra." The tiny woman said with slight arrogance. Sherra glared at her. "These ineffective robots are just mere distractions."

"Then, what was my lord's Lithium used for?"

"Be patient." Huraker noted and jumped off the ledge to the ground. Sherra was about to follow until Huraker shouted to her.

"I will execute this part myself. You will only cause unwanted baggage." Sherra pouted at her insult and stepped away from the edge; she sat down on the roof of the building and watched obediently as Huraker sprinted her way to one of the robots hiding near the park. Huraker landed jumped on the shoulders of her robot and waved her arms forward, making the entire robot fleet flood out of hiding.

"Lina, we have trouble." Pokota called for her quickly.

"What is it?" Lina shuffled out of her sleeping bag and to the peephole. Everywhere she looked, there was a robot aiming the ends of their weapons to their safe house and were creeping closer. "SHIT." She cursed loudly and ran to her collection of weapons in the middle of the camp.

"What's going on, Lina?" Zelgadiss rose from his sleep.

"We're surrounded." She told him as she readied her trusty revolver. "Get ready to move. Once I launch this, we're going to be in the blast area so we need to run the FUCK out of here."

"Is there another solution?" He asked and shook Amelia out of her sleep.

"Unless, you want to be target practice for hundreds of drones," Lina went back to the peephole and raise the end of her gun through the passage. "I don't think we have another option." She turned her head and spotted Filia sticking out her own grenade launcher at the other peephole.

"There is a stagnant robot behind us." Behind her crosshairs, there was a lowly robot with a broken leg. "I'll launch him away and it'll create our exit."

"After you." Lina nodded and looked back at her weapon. With a quick pull of her trigger, the warhead shot from the end of the Filia's weapon and hit the pathetic drone. Lina released one round out of her revolver but did not hit any of the robots. The robot on the roof let out a loud laugh.

"She missed!" Sherra exclaimed, only to take back her words when a sudden large explosion started. Surrounding their safe guard, there were several hidden large barrels of Lina's special explosive gunpowder buried in the dirt. The bullet that left Lina's chamber traveled across the green field and hit the one barrel that stuck out from the ground, conveniently located near a robot.

The blast was so great that it triggered the rest of the barrels and in a beautiful spectacle, the explosion were released one after the other in a fast manner. By the time it reached to the robot that Huraker was riding, she had leaped off and was fleeing to the passageway Filia had created.

"RUN!" Lina screamed. The barrels were all connected and it ended at the safe house where more than a dozen barrels of gunpowder were stored. Running over the destroyed robot, the gang fled out of the park and through town.

Lina, Pokota, and Filia exchanged looks with Zelgadiss and Amelia. The two groups nodded to one another and separated, one went toward the forest and the other to the other side of town. Huraker followed the group going into the forest.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to separate?" Pokota asked while hopping over a corpse.

"What if they get caught?"

"Zel and Amelia know Saillune's secret passages like the back of their hand. They will avoid capture and will get their job done." In the middle of speaking, the last barrels of gunpowder were set off and it released a great explosion that took almost all of Saillune. The three continued to run.

"But, what if-"

"Trust in your friends, Pokota." Lina suddenly remarked and that certainly shut him up.

* * *

There was Amelia crying and blood dripping from Filia's mouth. Val was dead with pale skin and Zelgadiss screaming in agony. Then, there was Zangulas calling for him in helplessness with Martina suffocating next to him. Even Pokota was there or whatever was left of that robot. And last, there was Lina's face. But she wasn't crying or screaming or looking at him for help. No, she was looking elsewhere with a sad expression. She called his name only once and her eyes slowly closed before blood stained her face.

Gourry sat up screaming her name. Breathing quick and heavy, his wide eyes lingered aimlessly as he continued to imagine the tortured faces of his friends. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and leaks of wetness left from the edges. He had left them all for dead in Saillune. He had left Amelia, Filia, Val, Zelgadiss, Zangulas, Martina, Pokota, and Lina.

"Oh, Lina…" Gourry covered his face with his shaking hands. "Lina…" He wept loudly. He had left her and now, she's dead. Because of him. His body curled forward, his face pressed against the thin blanket covering his body as he openly cried.

"Lina Inverse is not dead." Her voice was strong and poised. Gourry looked up from his hands and stared at the mystery woman who had saved him. She was sitting across the room, in the dark corner, with her legs crossed and her dangerous weapon in her hand.

"Lina… Lina's not dead?" His trembling voice asked and she released an irritated sigh.

"You would've known that if you just stayed back, boy." The woman continued to play with her weapon. "Don't you have faith in your own friends?"

"H-How do you know? Have you seen her? Is she alright? Is she-"

"One question at a time." She snapped at him and pointed the sickle to him. "And I'm only taking one so make it count."

"Lina…" He started but decided to change the topic altogether. "What's going on in Saillune?" Gourry asked instead and the woman looked away from his worried expression. He watched as she ran the tips of her fingers against the sharp edges of her black sickle.

This was when Gourry realized that he was not at the farm, nor outside. He was in a really dark room of a cabin. Looking out the only window in the room, he could see thick trees. Was he even in the South anymore?

"There is no Saillune." She finally said and Gourry instantly twisted his attention to her.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me, boy." The woman snorted. "The robots have raided the town, just like they did with the rest of the Eastern settlements." She paused for a second to look at him.

"However, unlike the other settlements, Saillune fortunately lost only a few dozens of their people. They were blessed with good fortune."

"Blessed? Fortune?" Gourry scoffed loudly. The expression on his face twisted in rage. "People died-"

"And a lot more have survived. They are blessed to have witness a full frontal robot assault and lived to tell about it." She strongly said. "Good fortune is hard to come by nowadays, boy." Gourry watched this female get up from her wooden chair and to the dresser next to his bed. She laid her weapon down and moved her fingers to the other weaponry next to hers. Her fingers touched the scabbard of Gourry's long sword and as she did, she stopped at where the locket touched the cross-guard. In the middle of the diamond jewels, there was a tiny crystal that was secretly tucked and she quickly recognized it.

"Preposterous." The woman let out a soft snort and removed her fingers but continued to stare at the sword, directly at the crystal.

"Who are you?" Gourry asked suddenly and the woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Someone who died a long time ago."

"What?" Gourry wanted to know his savior but she said nothing back. Instead, she turned to him and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Your entire lower ribcage is shattered into pieces and it's a surprise that you are not bleeding internally." She told him and shoved him forcefully back to his pillow. "Lay still-"

"No." He sat up, only to wince in the pain. "Sylphiel…" He finally mentioned and lowered to the pillow. "I need to rescue her-"

"You will not survive as you are now." The woman turned around and returned to her chair.

"Once you heal," She said and sat with her legs crossed again. "I will let you go but until then, you are going to answer a few questions for me, boy." She crossed her arms over her heavy set chest.

"What kind of questions?"

"Questions that need to be answered by you." Gourry stared at this woman carefully.

"Alright, I'll answer all your questions," He nodded. "But only if you tell me everything you know." The woman let out a soft chuckle from beneath her black mask and made his spine tremble.

"Alright, boy," She agreed. "I'll start from the beginning."

* * *

The slender metal arrow stuck in Filia's thigh bled heavily. She grabbed the end of the arrow and tried to yank it out. Unfortunately, it was incredibly wedged in her leg and was producing too much pain. She had no choice but to fight with it in.

Wide-eyed and trembling in his shoes, Pokota remain hidden in a distance, watching from behind a tree as Huraker stood with her metal bow in hand and another metal arrow ready. She had caught up to them and in time, Filia threw Pokota to the side and took the arrow for him. Introductions were already made and Huraker was threatening the two ladies.

"Where is the robot child?" Huraker asked. None of them said anything. "Give me the child and I will spare your lives." Lina smirked.

"I'd rather not… Ultimate robot takeover doesn't sound like a cup of tea to me." Lina joked and secretly grabbed a handful of daggers from her pouch. Huraker snorted and let her fingers uncurl, allowing the arrow fly straight at Lina's eyes. Only, Lina flung her dagger accurately at the tip of the metal head, making it go another direction. Huraker's eyes slightly winced when her arrow struck the ground and twirled to the side when Lina began throwing her sharp knives at her. Her slender and tiny body flipped and twisted, preventing the sharp edges from coming close to her body. She easily dodged the last dagger by tilting her neck to the side and meet with Lina's ruby eyes.

They stared at each other for an intense moment before a low rumbling shook the ground beneath them. The rumbling got louder and louder with each second and soon, the ground was shaking so much that it was hard to balance on two feet. Then, parting the trees to get to them, the humans watched with large eyes as a large rectangular metal box entered their sights. Wheeled in by four circular stones, the metal product was triple their size and carried deathly attachments sticking from its metal casing.

"Like it?" Huraker kept her eyes on Lina's astonished expression. "I call it, a 'tank' and powered entirely by Lithium." She chuckled when Lina looked back at her.

"If you are not going to tell me where the boy is," Her fingers snapped and the 'tank' moved its Gatling gun, aiming it straight at Lina's body. "I'll just have to find him on my own."

"Lina!" Filia called when the gun released a sharp click and started pummeling out rapid bullets. Amazingly, Lina jumped out of its crosshairs in time and sprinted away, except the gun followed her and continued to shoot her. Huraker smirked until she noticed Filia getting up and lifting her HMG off her side.

"Not so fast!" Huraker lunged forward and kicked Filia at her wounded thigh, making her scream out and fall back to her knee. "I won't let you destroy my beloved invention."

"F-Filia…" Pokota watched with such big eyes. He gripped his fingers around his bow and tried to beckon his hands to move. He had a clear shot of this woman! He can shoot her! But Pokota watched as Huraker repeatedly stomped on Filia's wound, grinding the bottom of her boot against the metal arrow to dig deeper. Slowly, he moved his hands to his ears. He closed his ears and eyes, preventing him to hear and see. This was just like before with Gaav. He was too frightened to do anything. These robots that he is up against are strong. He is just a puny robot with no gun attached to him or any other special weapon. It was no question that he WILL die if he was up against any of them and that was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to die so he will let his friends die in his place. Unbeknownst to him, standing behind him was Sherra and her arms were transforming into blades.

Running behind a thick slab of stone, Lina caught her breath as rapid bullets pounded against the other side of the stone. Suddenly, the tank stopped shooting and Lina carefully looked around the edges of the damaged rock. Near the tank, Huraker was still kicking Filia and laughing aloud. She did not seem to notice that the tank had stopped and was fully having fun with Filia. Lina moved her eyes to the tank, it was still aiming its Gatling gun at her but instead of bullets, Lina could hear empty clicks. It was out of bullets! Lina shoved out of hiding and ran as fast as she can. She rushed past Huraker and with the Dragon Slave ready in her hand; she stopped in front of the metal robot box and shot the red bullet. Huraker cried out when her tank was picked off the ground and thrown against a side of a small hill. She stepped off of Filia and watched with large eyes as the large blast took her beloved weapon and half the forest.

"No…" Huraker muttered softly and immediately, her face twisted in anger and she turned to face her enemy. As she turned to face Lina, Huraker raised her metal bow and pulled back five arrows.

"DIE!" She screamed and one after another, she launched her arrows at Lina and Filia. Lina rushed in front of Filia and defend her with the daggers in her hand, stopping them before striking their bodies. The noises of metal arrows hitting Lithium daggers were constant. It didn't look like Huraker was going to stop and Lina was beginning to regret killing her precious invention until she heard a loud shout from nearby. Filia and Lina turned their heads and saw a dreadful sight. Stepping out of the bushes, Sherra was carrying the struggling robot child over her shoulder, his wrists and ankles tied together with rope.

"It looks like I wasn't just unwanted baggage." Sherra said as she went to Huraker's side. Huraker smirked and threw her last arrow, in which grazed against Lina's cheek. Lina hissed at the bleeding scratch but hissed more at Pokota's capture.

"Let go of him! He doesn't know anything!" Filia struggled to get on her feet. "I know where the Lithium mines are! Take me instead!"

"No!" Lina blocked their sights from Filia. "I know exactly where the Lithium mines are. You take me and I'll sing like a bird." She gulped when Sherra and Huraker exchanged looks.

"Come on!" The redhead began to shout. "I'm the fucking Bandit Killer! I've been killing your fucking kind for years! Take me and you'll get to finally kill me! I'll even let you turn me into a robot!"

"Lina…" Pokota couldn't believe she was sacrificing her own life for his soulless body.

"Come on." Lina softly enticed and went on her knees. "Come on and take me, you fucking worthless shits," She moved the tip of her dagger and pressed it lightly against her own throat. "Before I kill myself and you'll never get this kind of opportunity again." A large smile broadened across Sherra's face while Huraker just stared at Lina. Pokota let out a high-pitch whine when Sherra ran her hand over his cheek.

"I think I'll keep this one." She said as she twirled her fingers in Pokota's magenta hair. "And besides, I don't like you at all." Sherra swiped her Magnum from her belt and aimed it between Lina's eyes.

"I'd rather see you die-"

"No." Huraker suddenly voiced and Sherra looked at her.

"Our mission is to eliminate the infuriating Lina Inverse-"

"I know our mission." The smaller woman robot snapped. "But Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, our greatest adversary is offering us her body. She will make a great addition to our army and we simply cannot let this opportunity go."

"Are you dense?" Sherra snarled. "This woman has triumphed over us countless times and you want to make her one of us? SHE DOESN'T DESERVE SUCH A PRIVILEGE."

"No, she doesn't." Huraker stepped in front of Lina and stared intently at her red eyes. Lina gulped, she moved her dagger closer to her throat. Intensity ran between their eyes before Huraker moved a hand over Sherra's revolver and lowered it.

"OUR MISSION-"

"Is complete. She knows the location of the Lithium mines as well." Huraker reached over to grab Lina when Lina let her dagger spill blood.

"Release him first." She whispered. "And then I'll willingly, without any struggle, go with you."

"Fine." Huraker sighed and motioned Sherra to unhand Pokota. When she didn't do anything, Huraker looked back at her. "Unhand the robot child." Reluctantly, Sherra bumped Pokota off her shoulder, caught him before he landed on the ground, and tossed him to Filia, in which she instantly took him into her tight arms. Lina nodded and moved to her feet, her dagger still at her neck.

"We have agreed to unhand the robot-"

"And I agreed to come with you willingly but I never said anything about moving this blade." Lina smiled sweetly. "Just a precaution, in case you go back on your word."

"I see." Huraker smirked and watched her walk past. Sherra glared at Lina when she past her too and turned her heated eyes at Huraker.

"WHAT ABOUT THE ROBOT CHILD?"

"We have Lina Inverse in custody. She weighs heavier than any price." She smiled while Sherra continued to glare at her.

"Do not worry, Sherra," The woman with blue hair chuckled. "I'll mention your name to our lords. I'll tell them… that you weren't useless baggage." In sudden instinct, Sherra raised her Magnum and shoot Huraker at her forehead. Lina spun quickly around as Filia and Pokota watched with large eyes. Huraker fell backwards to the ground and began to twitch.

"You are useless baggage." Sherra snarled and released all her rounds into her ex-partner's head. Her free arm transformed into a blade and repeatedly stabbed Huraker's chest, directly above her heart. When she finished with her, Huraker was a bloody mess and large holes were everywhere in her body. Sherra started to chuckle and stepped off of her. She turned around to look at her three prisoners but they had fled a long time ago.

* * *

Frantically running through the dark forest, Pokota carried Filia on his back while Lina lead the way deeper. Countless times, Filia told them to leave her and yet, they declined and kept running. None of them bothered to look back since they can already hear Sherra's fanatical laughter and she was getting closer. It was when Pokota fell down and Filia rolled off his back did Lina realized that this could be the end. She helped Filia sit up while Pokota got to his feet.

"Come on." He reached for Filia's hands but she didn't move for she was looking at Lina's serious expression. They stared at one another, conversing silently. "Come on! She's getting closer!" Pokota grabbed Filia's wrist and Filia looked at him.

"I can't move."

"And she's getting closer." Lina said quickly. She and Filia stared at Pokota's confused expression.

"Pokota," Filia smiled. "Run ahead and we'll catch up."

"No." He shook his head.

"Come on, puny robot." The redhead smiled as well. "We'll be right behind you."

"N-No!" Pokota sat down quickly next to them and shook his head again. "I don't want to continue without you guys!" Lina and Filia stared at the stubborn robot with big sighs and turned their heads when they heard loud rustling nearby.

"Fuck, she's here." Lina grabbed the shotgun from her back and pumped it with her rounds. She aimed straight at the moving bushes and waited. As if walking in the dark forest in the middle of the night was completely normal, an unexpected stranger stepped out. It was the man in the black kimono, carrying the wooden staff and straw hat, except this time he was wearing a straw coat over his back like a traveler. He stopped to look at Lina, Pokota, and Filia. Like before, the straw hat was pulled so low on his face that Filia couldn't see what he looked like. Just then, Sherra jumped out from behind the trio and raised her blades to kill. In perfect timing, the man swiped out his own revolver from his sash and shot Sherra twice in her chest, sending her backwards.

"Looks like you're in trouble." The man shot Sherra a third time in the chest when she tried to get up. "I can take you to safety."

"Wait a motherfucking second- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Lina loudly asked just as he shot Sherra a fourth time.

"I only have two more bullets in this chamber." He said while waving the gun to the side. "I suggest you make your decision."

"Then, we will come with you." Filia nodded and motioned for Pokota's help.

"WHAT? FILIA!" The redhead yelped. "We don't even know who this guy is!"

"I know him." She mentioned and headed to the direction that the man pointed. Lina glanced between his revolver to Sherra's twisted crazed expression and with no other choice; Lina cursed loudly and moved the end of her shotgun to the robot's body. She blasted shot shells at Sherra's stomach before fleeing with the man into the deep forest.


	23. Chapter 23 Beating Beliefs

Chapter 23 - Beating Beliefs

Standing in the middle of a meadow filled with beautiful spring flowers, Filia called out his name as loud as she can. A smile spread across her face when she saw him. He is crouched in the flowers, fiddling with a yellow daisy in his fingers. She calls him again as her pace quicken but he disappeared before she got there. Filia stopped running and looked around the field. Calling his name louder, she could feel her heart failing every second until she hear his soft laughter behind her. With a quick spin, a larger smile developed on her face when she saw him again.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open. Filia breathed hesitantly as she tried to sit up against the soft dirt, her movement was noticed by Pokota and he quickly rushed to her side. Taking her shoulder and helping her sit up, Pokota softly informs her that she had lost conscious an hour ago so they have stopped moving. Filia held her throbbing head and responded with a troubled sigh. As she turned her head, there was Lina sitting near her legs and across from her was the man in the straw hat.

Lina was staring intensely at the man; her shotgun remained out in the open and lay on her lap. She had her right finger curled around the trigger as she watched every move this stranger made. The man, however, was sitting cross-legged on the ground and his straw hat tipped lower than usual. He appeared to be sleeping upright for he was releasing evenly heavy breathing and his chest rose at every inhale. Lina turned her head around and looked upon Filia's frowning expression.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like someone hit me on the back of the head with your Dragon Slave." The tall woman grumbled but Lina chuckled and looked back at the man. That was when Filia noticed that the metal arrow was missing from her leg and was heavily wrapped with black cloth and tied over her long pants. Filia stared at the elegant tie with cloudy eyes. They used Xellos's handkerchief to tie her wound.

"We pulled it out when you were asleep." Pokota said just in case she wanted to know. He held out the thin metal arrow that was once lodged in her thigh and returned it back to his arrows bin.

"Thanks." Filia smirked and looked at the mystery man. "Is he… asleep?"

"For 30 minutes now." Lina continued to watch him. "It must be nice to sleep when we are being chased by a crazy robot."

"Where is she?"

"Don't know." Pokota shrugged. "We haven't heard her for a while."

"Maybe she lost interest." Filia mentioned and moved to Lina's side with his help.

"Perhaps." Lina grabbed a long stick from next to her body and reached over to the sleeping man. "Or she's just waiting for us to make a move." Lifting the end of the stick to the edge of his straw hat, Lina began to tilt it upward. Pokota and Filia watched in silent anticipation. They all wanted to know who this man was but when the hat revealed a normal-looking mouth, Lina dropped her stick instantly his hand lifted and grabbed the edge of his hat from moving.

"Curiosity will get you killed." He adjusted his hat so it only covered his nose and eyes. Tilting his head to where Filia sat in front of him, the man nodded to her. "How are you feeling?"

"B-Better." She replied and cleared her throat in hesitation. She saw Lina motioning to keep talking and gulped.

"Um…" Filia voiced and the man hummed in response. "Um, who are you exactly? I-I mean, I am grateful that you saved Amelia and I last week and now, you are saving us from Sherra, but… there are many unanswered questions." She said nervously. The man reached over to his wooden staff leaning against a tree and set it over his lap.

"You can call me, Priest." He introduced. "My primary status for the moment is to travel the land and share great advice to better one's life." Lina, Pokota, and Filia exchanged confused expressions and shrugged their shoulders. They return to listen to Priest's story.

"Would you like to hear one?" They nodded without conviction. "Value your neighbor." He simply said. The three kept staring at him, waiting for more but he ran his hands against the smooth texture of his staff and waited for their response.

"That's it?" Lina raised an eyebrow when he nodded. "You're… um… good?"

"I know quite a lot of things, you know." He muttered. "I know what happened in the past, what's happening in the present, and unfortunately, what will happen in the future."

"And how does one get so knowing?" Lina asked quite condescending like.

"Education, experience, and lots of listening." He tilted his head to her.

"For instance, I know who you are. You are the infamous Bandit Killer, the most feared woman in the East, and yet, you are being seen fleeing tonight." The redhead's eyes widen at the mention of her handle. "It must be overwhelming to possess such a great reputation."

"And you," His straw hat moved to where Pokota sat. "You are the creation of the Chief of Taforashia. You are the reason why robots have been acting so outlandishly these couple days." Pokota instantly lowered his eyes to the ground. Even this man knows about him. Finally, the Priest looked at Filia whose body was already shaking. Filia waited for him to say something about her but he just kept quiet and turned his head at the sound of a branch breaking. Pokota and Lina followed suit except for Filia, she continued to stare at him. Eventually, they turned their heads back.

"So, you know who we are." Lina snorted. "But we still don't know who you really are or your intentions with us." She leaned forward slightly and squint her curious eyes to look through the tiny spaces between the straw stalks of his hat. No luck.

"You said you are a traveling Priest."

"I did."

"Perfect timing, isn't it? Walking around the outskirts of Saillune right when we were running away from Sherra," Lina smirked. "Why don't you tell me why you are really here, Priest?" A tense moment passed between them before the man saw Lina slowly moving the end of her shotgun towards him, he shook his head.

"I guess I have no choice. After all, you are the most feared in the East for a reason."

"A legitimate reason." Lina smiled innocently and lifted her right thin leg from the ground, showing off her specialty weapon strapped on her calf.

"Now, explain before I have to use this on your head."

"I was fleeing from the North." He began. "The Northern King, King Wells Zeno Gairia, have taken control of the last human settlement there and I, along with many others, fled before it got worse." The Priest reached into his kimono and revealed a dark black crest with a red symbol.

"That's the symbol of the Alliance of the North." Filia said quickly.

"King Gairia hired illegal help to kill the reigning leaders across the North. We succeeded and were deemed murderers by his majesty, King Gairia, who denied ever hiring us." He returned his crest in his clothes and placed his hands on his knees.

"So you fled and let this tyrant bastard take over?"

"Give me a chance to explain." The Priest told her and Lina snorted lightly but with a nod. "Many years ago, robots had taken control over half of the Northern settlements. The humans were forced to live in the dangerous areas of the North; we were isolated and the robots prevented anyone from crossing the borders. There were always robots roaming the streets at night to force humans into their coalition. No human was safe."

"Then, the mine shafts in Saillune closed three years ago and that caused a decline in robot activity, thus the humans began to rebel against robot tyranny. We were all starting to get our freedom back until King Gairia was raised in command of the entire North by unanimous decision after the killings of every military and sovereignty head, done by the Alliance." The man paused for a few seconds; his head lowered just a little before he spoke finally. "Shortly after he gained control, King Gairia announced a union with the robots and the human massacre began once again."

"Why?" Pokota asked, his hands gripping into fists. "Why would a human side with robots?"

"King Gairia is not human." Lina, Filia, and Pokota's eyes widen at the Priest's sudden statement. "When the Outlaw Four infiltrated the North those many years ago, they murdered his kingship and replaced his role with one of their own." The Priest motioned his head toward Lina.

"That is the reason why we fled. The Alliance of the North learned the truth and we've been classified as criminals ever since." A soft snort left behind his hat. "Hunted like rats by our brain-washed comrades and now, I'm the only one left."

"An enemy of the robot is always a friend to us." Lina interrupted the eerie silence and put her shotgun away. "We wouldn't have been able to lose Sherra without you. Your timing was perfect."

"Timing is unforgiving." The Priest was the only one who did not jump when a loud explosion set off nearby. "General Sherra is getting close. We should move to another location."

"There is nothing but forest from here on." Lina said as she strapped her weapons tightly against her body for another brisk running under the moonlight.

"There is a secluded cabin over the next hill, near a pond." Priest grabbed his straw coat and tied it around his neck. "I have been borrowing it for weeks and haven't seen anyone yet."

"Then we will go there." Lina had gotten accustomed to this man and felt he was trustworthy.

"Come on, Filia." Pokota helped Filia to her feet but Filia stumbled forward and would've fallen back to the ground if the Priest's body wasn't there to stop her. He caught her with his hands on her shoulders and adjusted her on her feet.

"S-Sorry." For Filia though, she was still unsure with him. "I just lost my footing." The man kept hold of her shoulders, staring intently behind his straw hat at her uncertain golden eyes until Pokota motioned Filia to get on his back.

"No." He stopped the boy and handed him his wooden staff instead. "Her weight will slow you down."

"EXCUSE ME?" Instantly, Filia raised her eyebrow high and crossed her arms. In a swift move, he picked Filia off her feet and carried her easily into his arms. A deep red color covered her entire face, Filia let out a high-pitch noise when he tilted his head so he can look at her but did not say anything.

"Well, well, well," Lina snickered nearby. "I don't want to ruin a moment-"

"OH, SHUT UP, LINA!" Filia snarled, her sharp teeth snapping.

"But we need to go." She motioned. The man nodded and directed the group through the thick forest. As they sprinted past the heavy trees and troublesome obstacles, Filia would occasionally move her eyes up. From her angle, she can see a long face that was covered in darkness but within that darkness, she could see the vibrant eyes that she seen before at their first encounter. His eyes were red. As she was fawning over this dark hero, he noticed her and his eyes moved down, meeting with hers. Filia instantly looked away but hesitantly glanced over, he was still staring at her and she turned her head again. This happened often during their travel to the cabin and the last time Filia looked away, she felt his chest give a little movement like he was chuckling and his arms pulled around her body tighter.

* * *

The Priest gently placed Filia's long body on the brown tarp lying on the hardwood floor. She hesitantly said her thanks and adjusted her body to the hard floor while he nodded back. Behind them, Lina and Pokota were digging into the Priest's large traveling bag that was filled to the rim with food. They were aggressively shoving to get a piece of food from the bag until their savior walked over and snatched his bag from their mitts.

"HEY!" Lina and Pokota shouted loudly but as soon as they both got to their feet, the end of the Priest's wooden staff struck Lina in her bottomless gut. She let out a loud choking noise and curled forward, her hand pressed over her gaping mouth to stop food from leaving. Pokota's eyes widen at the sudden attack and before he could do anything, the tall man had him in a chokehold with his wooden weapon pinning his neck and holding him against the wall.

"W-What is the meaning of this?" Filia panicked. Her pockets were empty and her heavy weapons were ditched back in Saillune to lighten the load.

"I knew it… You tricked us..." Lina kept choking and coughing. "You are… with… robots."

"No." Priest continued to keep Pokota on the wall. "I was just proving to you how weak you truly are."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The redhead snarled and reached for her revolver, only find nothing there.

"You rely too much on your own equipment just like how you believe that you are unstoppable with the Dragon Slave." The Priest lifted her weapons in sight and dangled it in the air. "You need to think about your weaknesses, Lina Inverse."

"I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES." She swiped her revolvers from his fingers and pointed the ends of it at his face. "LET GO OF THE BRAT."

"Your weakness is your cocky attitude. It will get you killed next time." With a twist of his staff, he threw Pokota's body to the floor and stomped the bottom of his foot against the robot child's chest, preventing him from leaving.

"You are not a robot." He suddenly told her. His statement made Lina fidget.

"I… I know that-"

"Really?"

"Of course I do!" Lina exclaimed. "I AM a human!"

"Then start valuing your life. Your willingness to sacrifice your body and soul for this robot is unforgiving." He removed his foot from Pokota's chest but kept the robot on the ground by stabbing his staff into Pokota's throat.

"You and your comrades are the unfortunate ones left alive. There is nobody else who can save humanity. Everyone is DEAD or made into a robot." The hard truth gave a heavy tow to Lina and it made her quite uneasy. "You can either die foolishly or die fighting-"

"I AM fighting! I want humans to continue existing as much as you do-"

"I'm not talking about humans, you stupid girl." The Priest insulted making Lina bit her lower lip. Pokota caught his breath when the Priest's red eyes lowered to meet with his. "Value YOUR existence and fight to the death."

"Death…" Flashes of blood-stained images appeared before his eyes and Pokota shuddered. He didn't want to fight to the death. He didn't want to die, period.

"I do value my existence! I FIGHT TO KEEP LIVING!" Lina shouted, grabbing the attention of Priest. She threw her weapons to the hardwood floors, not caring that it could have potentially set off a round.

"UNLIKE OTHER SELFISH ASSHOLES, I DIDN'T RUN AWAY! I'M NOT LIKE GOURRY! HE RAN AWAY!" Lina's blood boiled so aggressively under her skin that she didn't seem to care if her voice would attract anybody near.

"HE LEFT EVERYONE TO DIE SO HE CAN LIVE HIS FICTIONAL LIFE FILLED WITH STUPID HAPPINESS AND SHIT!" She stopped for a second to catch her breath and tapped her fingers against her chest.

"I WANT TO STOP FIGHTING AND LEAVE TOO! BUT I DIDN'T BECAUSE I CAN'T!" Twisting her body to face the wall, she glared at the wooden cabin with eyes glistening.

"You don't know me." She snarled. "You don't understand this burden on my shoulder."

"Yes, I do-"

"NO, YOU DON'T!" Lina screamed with such fury that she could feel the blood in her veins boil aggressively under her skin. She faced the Priest with a fierce glare.

"IF I LEAVE, EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE AND IT'S THEIR INNOCENT BLOOD ON MY SELFISH HANDS! BUT I DON'T WANT TO KEEP FIGHTING ANYMORE! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ROBOT AFTER ROBOT! I WANT TO-"

"Then leave." The Priest said aloud.

"WERE YOU NOT LISTENING? I CAN'T LEAVE-"

"I had responsibilities once." He suddenly mentioned. "And I left them. Every one of them." The Priest, who had kept unflinching through Lina's sudden outburst, moved the end of his staff from Pokota's throat. Free at last, Pokota sat up slowly but stayed sitting. He watched the man walk away from his side and stop next to Lina. The Priest tipped his head towards her, meeting with Lina's angry ruby eyes.

"He will be back." He suddenly said and Lina winced.

"W-What?" Her voice slightly cracked.

"He will realize what he sacrificed for his worthless joy and he will be back." The edge of the straw hat lifted and Lina watched his mouth open and close.

"Don't forget, Lina Inverse. You are the only one who can stop the wrath of terror in this world and the only one who can create an endless pool of death in her path." Lina heard that saying before. "And if you don't want to fight, then fight for him."

"If you allow the robots to take over this planet, no one will be safe." He said as he leaned forward. "Gourry will die by their hands and it will be because of you." Lina cringed at that realization. If she leaves, no one will be left to fight and everyone will die, including Gourry. She didn't make a single move until the Priest went to the front door, Lina watched him leave.

"Rest, now. I will take watch for the night." He said as he left the wooden cabin. When the front door closed, Lina swiped her fallen revolver from the ground and began to stuff bullets into the chamber, only to drop the rounds to the ground. Unable to control her overwhelming emotions, Lina threw her weapon across the room and didn't care that it broke in half.

Filia sighed loudly, catching Pokota's attention. She spoke to Pokota softly, requesting him to give her and Lina a few minutes alone. Pokota quickly nodded and left the cabin floor. He'd rather be outside with the stranger than in Lina's explosive wrath. But when he left the cabin, Pokota was confused. Where was the Priest?

"Rest." Sitting on the roof, cross-legged and with his head lowered like he was about to fall asleep, Pokota smiled slightly at his sight but immediately covered it.

"Robots don't sleep." He joined him on top of the house. Pokota sat down next to the man and copied his form. Releasing a stiff breath of air, Pokota turned his head to look upon the Priest's figure. He could hear his heavy strokes of breathing just like before but Pokota knew that he was still awake.

"It is impolite to stare." The Priest suddenly said and Pokota quickly looked away.

"S-Sorry." He apologized and the man let out an unexpected chuckle. A chuckle that was so warm that it reminded Pokota of someone familiar, his father.

"For a robot, you are quite a character." His straw hat moved to Pokota's direction. "Your creator put a lot of time on you."

"My creator…" Pokota lowered his eyes. "My creator is dead."

"I've heard." The man muttered and continued to watch Pokota. Now, it was Pokota's turn to get annoyed.

"Staring is rude, you know." The robot child pouted. The Priest released another warm chuckle and nodded, he turned his covered head away and directed upwards to the beautiful canvas of twinkling stars. They sat there in silence now. Finally, after a few minutes of aggravated silence, Pokota uncrossed his legs and dangled it over the edge of the roof top.

"Did you know him?" He asked since they were already talking about the old man.

"I did not get the pleasure of meeting the great Chief of Taforashia." The man said while staring upwards.

"He would've liked you." Pokota smirked. "You talk like him."

"Many people from my generation talk like I do."

"So, you must be old." This comment made the Priest look away from the stars and at Pokota's growing smile. They stared at each for a second and another unexpected chuckle erupted from the older man.

"I may have an old soul, but I am still youthful."

"Okay, then," Pokota drew his legs back in and fully turned his body to face him. "You're not old but you said earlier that you have a lot of experience, so you have to be around Filia's age."

"I am." The Priest nodded, he kept his body still but continued to face Pokota. Pokota caressed the end of his chin like a detective and pouted his lips out as if he was thinking a great deal.

"So… you have to be around your 30s?"

"I am."

"Then, you're old." Pokota simply said.

"Humans consider anyone above 50 as 'old'." Priest told him and Pokota just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm only 3 years old and look how lively I am." This made the Priest let out another chuckle, but this time, it was more of a laugh than anything else.

"You are made with character and wonderful charisma." The man reached and placed a hand over Pokota's forehead. Pokota glanced between the man's hand and at the only thing that wasn't covered by his mask, the man's moving lips.

"But," The Priest moved his palm and placed it on his cheek. "You are also made with dread." Pokota stared at him with unblinking eyes. "You are frightened, robot."

"F-Frightened? I am not-"

"You are frightened just like those two in the cabin." The Priest told him. "But, you are frightened of something different." Pokota's eyes widen when the edge of the Priest's straw hat moved upward, revealing half of his lower face. "Death."

"Death…?" Just the mention of that word gave shivers down his spine.

"Ironic for you are a robot." The man removed his hand from Pokota's cheek and placed it on his shoulder. "You should not be afraid of such a wondrous-"

"WONDROUS?" Pokota said loudly. "Death is NOT WONDROUS."

"That depends on who you ask." Priest curled his lips into a smirk. Pokota let out a loud scoff and shook his head.

"Humans." He scoffed loudly again. "Why are they so subjected to death?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, Lina, she would've sacrificed her life so I won't get captured." Pokota mentioned. "And, Filia, she's always caring for me like I'm her son. I'm not her son. Her REAL son died because of me and yet, she is still treating me like I'm her responsibility." He paused for a second so he can let out a soft sigh.

"Filia and Lina would've died if you didn't show up and that's because I have something the robots want. So... why don't they just get it over with and kill me?" Pokota frowned. "If I'm dead, the robots-"

"Would maintain their mission and take their life." The Priest interrupted. Pokota bit his lower lip.

"But… If I'm dead… maybe the robots won't-"

"Elimination of the human race is a purpose." The wise man said. "Robots will eliminate your friends, your tribe, and every human they find until there is none."

"B-But… If I'm-"

"Your death will not cease their activities. It will only increase it." The Priest finally said and it made Pokota quiet. The man turned his head away and looked back at the stars again.

"Why are you so afraid of death?" He asked and Pokota lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm a mechanical being controlled by gadgets and trinkets. Gadgets and trinkets are not considered a soul." Pokota whispered. "Unlike humans, who go to heaven or hell, I don't know where I go afterwards. I don't know if I'm going to see Pops again or see any of my friends… I-I guess I just think that after I close my eyes, I go… into nothingness." He looked up when the man's hand slipped off his shoulder and placed it over Pokota's chest, upon his vibrating heart.

"What comes with age comes array of faces to meet and greet." The Priest smirked. "I have met an abundant of men, living and deceased, and you seem more human than a handful of them." Pokota's eyes clouded at his kind words but it still made him look elsewhere.

"If you believe that you will go into nothingness, you will go there. But, if you believe that you will see your father and your friends," Priest began to tap his fingers in a rhythm of a beating heart that it cleared the cloud over Pokota's emotions.

"You will see them."

"How do you know?" Pokota asked timidly. "How do you know that I will see them?"

"I don't." He said and continued to keep his tapping fingers beating. "And no human really knows if there is something after this. We just like to believe that our lives are not meaningless and that there is something waiting after all this chaos."

"We like to believe that after our passing, we will reach harmony and serenity. It is just a belief." His fingers suddenly stopped and Pokota could hear his heart vibrating again. "And if that belief disappears, all of us will be fighting our entire life trying to last; only that is not living. Living is simply believing."

"B-Believing…" Pokota's eyes widen.

"Yes." The Priest nodded and removed his hand from Pokota's chest. "I believe your father is in peace." The man mentioned. "And he is watching over you like that Eagle."

"Eagle?" Pokota raised an eyebrow and immediately turned his head upwards when a solitary Eagle let out a powerful screech. Soaring flawlessly above their heads was a large bird with a wing span of great length. Pokota watched the magnificent animal fly in a circle, its head twisting and turning to find a branch to land on.

"Pops…" He could see the image of his kind elderly father in the dark sky. Chief Taforashia smiled kindly down at him, his gentle eyes twinkling like the stars. Slowly, Pokota's lips twitched into a smile and streams of tears erupted from his eyes. Pops died horribly but he looked happier in death. As if he was finally in peace. Pokota lowered his troubled eyes away from the Eagle and buried it against his long sleeves.

Is that what it takes? All he needs to do is believe and there will be tranquility after this? Believe there is something after this for a soulless being, like him? Pokota turned away from his sleeves when the Eagle let out a last cry and fly out of sight. The Priest and him didn't say a word after that until the cabin door opened.

"Pokota?" It was Filia; she was using a broom to hold herself up. "Pokota, where are you?"

"Up here." Pokota spoke and grabbed her attention.

"What are you doing up there?" She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Come back inside or you'll freeze to death." She said before entering back into the cabin. Pokota turned his head when the man next to him started to chuckle.

"You are right." His body shook with each chuckle. "That woman sees you as her son, than a robot."

"You should see how my tribe sees me." Pokota smirked. "They think I'm a god."

"Now, that is more realistic." The Priest joked and Pokota let out a soft laugh. The teenage robot leaped off the roof's edge and grabbed the knob for the door, only to pause and looked back at the Priest.

"What about you? Aren't you going to be cold too?" He asked. The Priest flashed a small smile.

"I will be fine." Pokota nodded and left the Priest's view. The man let out another chuckle. He ignored the loud commotion erupting from inside the cabin between Lina and Pokota and lifted his hand to the edge of his straw hat. Removing the hat from top of his head, he moved several strands of dry hair apart so he can look upon the twinkling stars with uncovered red eyes.

* * *

"Elimination of the human race." The woman in the black said suddenly and Gourry gulped. "That wasn't always the purpose for this robot movement," She let out a soft scoff and shook her head. "Or for the Outlaw Four."

"No, they wanted something else." A sigh released from behind her mask. "Freedom."

"Freedom?" Gourry raised a confused eyebrow.

"Before they were robots, they were five humans who lived off the land. But when colonies from across the demon sea came to settle, they were forced to flee to the Bad Lands where there was nothing, except for death." She paused for a second and then continued. "But it was there that they stumbled upon a power that was greater than any of them could ever imagine and if it wasn't for that power, all of them would've died."

"The locals called it, the eternal power, and the five used the power to repel against the colonies." The woman rocked her chair back using the heel of her boot. "In the end, they overthrew the government and got their land back, but colonization remained. The people did not want to live off the land anymore, they wanted to live in wooden houses and wear proper dresses. The freedom they fought so hard to achieve had been run over by evolution and technology for a better and faster tomorrow."

"The load weighed heavily against their hearts and they eventually went along with the corruption, except for the leader of their pact, Hell-Master. During the freedom revolution, his fight for freedom reigned over his conscience and he began to fight for revenge."

"Revenge for what?"

"Revenge for ruining his existence mainly, but revenge for destroying his livelihood. You see, Hell-Master saw what greed and power could do and believed that mankind was the root of all this. He believed that all mankind are malevolent beings and should not be awarded with life. He viewed humans as a disease." Gourry watched the woman stand up from her chair and go to the lonely window in the room; she looked out with her back towards him. "He concluded a planet with humans is a planet worth killing."

"But, he's human-"

"And that only increased his hatred for humans." She told him. "So, he did what any man would do in the heat of anger and chaos. His corrupt soul accepted the eternal power and he changed into something mechanical. He called himself a robot and forced his four comrades to follow suit. They were all able to accept the power, except for one man, Gaav, and he only lived because of the metal bullets that were lodged in his body at the time, making him a Cyborg. The four who were able to accept the Lithium called themselves, the Outlaw Four, and with Hell-Master leading the brotherhood, their noble cause to create a land of freedom was lost in the darkness of Hell-Master's sinful soul. It didn't take long until he convinced his comrades of his hatred."

"In the end," The woman sighed. "He will believe that every living thing, metal or not, is a disease to the planet and will eliminate it. Evidently, he does not understand that he, himself, is murdering the planet that he believes that he is saving." She cursed quietly afterwards and looked back at Gourry, who was still staring at her.

"A deal is a deal." She mentioned and Gourry nodded.

"Why did you leave Saillune?" She suddenly asked. Gourry didn't answer. "I'm waiting, boy."

"I left because there was nothing left for me."

"Idiot." She insulted. "There is still Saillune."

"And Lina." He said sorely. The mystery woman kept watch of Gourry's distorted expression and finally moved away from the window. She closed the gap between their bodies and stood next to his bed. In a sudden move, she smacked Gourry behind his head with her hand and yanked at his left cheek hard.

"OW!" Gourry tried to pull away but the woman kept hitting his head and pulling at his face. "S-STOP! STOP THAT!"

"NO." She simply said and continued. It was only when Gourry reached for his sword did she grab her own weapon and presented it to him. She shoved the tip of the sharp blade on her handheld sickle between his eyes, stopping only a hairline from his skin. This made Gourry freeze immediately. Gourry and the woman with red eyes stared at one another.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked but Gourry said nothing. "Answer me. Does the pain still hurt?"

"It stings…" He noticed her lips curl into a smile beneath the black wrap around her head.

"Of course it does but it will pass, won't it?"

"I-I guess…" Gourry agreed and her weapon slowly retracted from his face.

"Just like the pain that woman made to your heart." She returned her weapon next to his sword. "It will pass."

"No, it won't. Lina LIED to me-"

"Aren't you doing the same thing with that other woman?"

"What other woman?" Gourry asked loudly but after a few seconds remembered who she was talking about. "No, I am NOT. I am not betraying Sylphiel. I am faithful-"

"How faithful were you when minutes ago you were weeping more heavily about Lina's death, rather than her capture? When you fought more intensely for Lina, than when she was dangled in front of you? When all you could think about is Lina, than that woman's undying love for you?" The woman chuckled lightly and went to the foot of Gourry's bed, sitting down next to his legs.

"I… I don't love Lina-"

"Oh, so you love that other woman instead?" She asked and crossed her thin legs elegantly.

"Yes." Gourry said with no hesitation. The woman continued to chuckle and shook her head.

"You love her and yet, you are here talking to me instead of whisking away to rescue your darling lover from imminent danger."

"I would've left but you were blocking me from leaving!"

"I'm not stopping you now, am I, boy?" She mentioned. Gourry gave her a terrible glare and twisted his body, moving his legs over the edge and onto the floor. He cringed at the intense pain the moment he stood up and hurled forward to withstand it. In the end, the pain was too great and he had to come back to the bed.

"I wonder," The woman was now laying across the bottom half of the bed and with her arms crossed under her head. "If it was Lina who was in danger, would you be leaving even faster?"

"What are you talking about?" Gourry snorted but kept his eyes glancing over. The woman unfolded one arm down to her black sash around her waist and dug her long fingertips underneath. Gourry's eyes widen as big as saucers when she pulled out a thin gold chain with a ring dangling at the end of it. It was Lina's necklace and it was the engagement ring that he gave her.

"I wonder," Dangling the jewelry in front of his face now, the woman chuckled. "Who will you rescue now?"


	24. Chapter 24 Dead Arrivals

Chapter 24 - Dead Arrivals

"_You are not a robot."_ It was a statement that stunned Lina most of all. With her back pressed against the hardwood flooring of the darkened cabin and her arms crossed beneath her neck, the infamous Bandit Killer contemplated on what had happened that night. The Priest, whom saved her, insulted her greatly by calling her weak and then, he told her that the future of humanity rests on her hands. Lina moved one of her hands from under her head and kept it hovering over her eyes. These hands of hers are what humanity has left. From the look of things, not including the old and new cuts from practicing her daggers, these hands of hers were worn out and are just about ready to retire.

"_You are not a robot."_ So, what if she thought she was? Lina always viewed herself as invincible and powerful, until the Priest took her firearm away and she was left with nothing. A breath of wearisome passed through her lips as she sat up from the hard floors. Okay, so what if she is weak without her revolver. If she is considered WEAK, why was he telling her that she was humanity's last hope? He certainly ISN'T weak, why couldn't he be the last hope? Adjusting her legs so her knees would buckle against each other, Lina stared at her covered thin legs as she continued to reflect.

"_You are not a robot."_ Why did that bother her?

* * *

The next morning, Lina watched closely from behind as the Priest clean and bandaged Filia's heavy wound. Reduced to taking off her pants, Filia kept both eyes on his hands on her naked thigh. She winced when his fingers came close to her simple and plain underwear. He noticed her tense behavior and apologized, in which she smiled to make him feel like he was helping her and not taking advantage.

"You're not going to use that leg for awhile." The Priest suddenly informed her.

"What do you mean 'for awhile'?" Lina asked with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It is in the middle of healing. If she moves that leg now, she is only going to reopen the wound and it will not heal properly. She will be prone to infection."

"Dammit." The redhead cursed and left the cabin, slamming the front door as she did. With her departure, it meant that Filia was all alone with the stranger. And she had no pants on.

"Thank you." Filia whispered when he stood up.

"Don't thank me." He replied while grabbing a towel from nearby. "It's a very serious injury-"

"No, I mean," She accepted the towel with a great big smile. "Thank you for rescuing me." The man said nothing after this. He just nodded. In the midst of covering her legs, Filia watched the man turn around and walk to the other side of the cabin, where his heavy traveling bag was located. She watched him bend forward and reach into his bag, rummaging through it. From the mere tip of his body, did Filia see something poking out from the edges of his hat. Her eyes widen at the sight but quickly looked away when he turned around, presenting a colorful fruit to her. Again, she thanked him but more quietly and placed her breakfast against her lap. He watched her hesitate and so beckoned her to eat.

"I'm… not hungry." She told him and the Priest nodded. Filia kept both eyes locked on the floorboards until he sat next to her. Bringing his wooden staff to lean against his right shoulder, he hunched his body slightly forward and shortly afterwards; he was releasing loud raspy breathing that made the apprehensive Filia look at him.

"Are," She ended the silence between them. "Are you alright?" He tilted his head towards her. "You are breathing quite heavily."

"Is it bothering you?" He asked quite sternly.

"N-No, no!" Filia quickly reassured. "It's just…" She gave off a concerned expression. "I was wondering if you are in pain."

"Pain…" He repeated and released a rough chuckle. "Being in pain verifies your being." With a shake of his head, the Priest told her that he is not in pain.

"Then why are you breathing so hard?"

"A bounty hunter sliced into my throat during my escape from the North." The man said. "I would've died if nobody came to my rescue."

"Oh, so you have a savior too?" Filia giggled but stopped when she noticed that he wasn't laughing with her. "U-Um… I apologize-"

"Don't apologize. Only apologize when your actions hurt another."

"I hurt you-"

"No, you didn't. But it seems that I have hurt you for not laughing along." He chuckled softly. "I apologize for my dry humor." The Priest turned his head away and sighed.

"I was just mesmerized by your free laughter." Normally, this would make her blush but for some reason, Filia kept staring carelessly at the man's covered face. Instead of backing away, Filia moved her body closer. So close that she was leaning her head against his shoulder and her both arms were wrapped loosely around his left arm. Playful-like, she tried to peer under his hat to look at his face but the Priest just moved his head away.

"What are you doing?" He asked with his serious tone of voice.

"Um," Filia embarrassingly smiled. "I was just… wondering what you look like."

"Does it bother you that you do not know my true identity?"

"Won't it bother you if your savior always had a mask on?" Filia asked irritably and the man chuckled. He moved his left hand so he can grab one of her slim hands. The Priest continued to fiddle with their fingers until Filia took the initiative to entwine their fingers together.

"Won't you show me your face?" She asked softly but he was staring intently at their fingers.

"You were always forward." The Priest was hesitant. "So relentless and yet, so collected." This time, he moved his head so it was at the same level as hers, allowing her to see his darkened outline.

"Do you remember, when you were just a child," It wasn't rough anymore. His voice was now soothing. It was calm and familiar, like a voice she thought she would never hear for a very long time. "You blew up the town hall with a shoulder-propelled grenade launcher and blamed the gunsmith for not putting a child lock on it."

"How… do you know that?" Filia gasped at the recollection of that pastime. A smile developed on his face and tipping his hat upward, the darkness upon his face slowly lifted. Filia's eyes doubled in size and her mouth dropped carelessly. She stared at him with disbelief.

"Filia." He whispered her name and gently touched her cheek.

"H-How?" Filia shuddered at the coldness of his fingers. "I heard…" Here, he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and pulled her head against his chest. It took a few silent seconds but Filia heard it. Or rather, she heard nothing but felt a wild vibration rattling in his chest. She looked up at his face and said nothing. Instead, they kept hugging and staring at each other, making silent conversations and smiling at fond memories of one another.

"FILIA! PRIEST!" The front door suddenly began to rattle loudly. It was Pokota. In an instant, the two broke away from each other. Filia quickly pulled her pants on while the Priest rushed to the front door and opened it for Pokota.

"What is-"

"A group of bounty hunters and two large robots are coming this way!" Pokota announced when he stormed in. "Lina went ahead to stop them but I don't think she can do it on her own!"

"Which direction?" The Priest swiftly asked as he grabbed his wooden staff from the ground. Pokota pointed the way. "Stay here."

"Wait!" Filia limped to the doorway and grabbed the covered man by the sleeve. "I'm com-"

"You will only be a liability." He roughly slipped away from her grip and started walking towards the direction Pokota had pointed.

"I am not a liability!" Filia snarled loudly. "When we first met, you said the same thing and I proved you wrong, didn't I? You took me in the next day as your pupil."

"This is diff-"

"MILGAZIA." Pokota's eyes grew at the mention of the name. He looked at the Priest and noticed that he had stopped walking. Wasn't Milgazia the fourth original member of the group? But he heard that he had died.

"MILGAZIA-SEMPAI!" Filia shouted and stumbled out of the house. She grasped Pokota's shoulder when she did. "PLEASE, MILGAZIA-SEMPAI, I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN-"

"You have already lost your Sempai." Lifting his hand to the edge of his straw hat, the Priest took his hat and moved it off his head. He revealed his shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and red stern eyes. Milgazia dumped the hat to the ground and looked back at Filia.

"Xellos has turned him into a monster."

"X… Xellos." She gasped his name aloud. How did he know Xellos? And what did he mean by making him into a monster? Or, did he mean that it was Xellos who turned him into a robot?

"Xellos?" Pokota angrily repeated. "What about Xellos?" He faced the alive-again ex-bounty hunter.

"Is he still alive?" Filia gasped once again and looked at her former-teammate for answers. Milgazia noticed her sudden interest in the matter. She was looking at him unlike he ever seen before and turned away to the dark forest.

"I am… not at liberty to relay that information." And he vanished before their eyes.

* * *

The bottom of her boot slammed against the side of the remaining bounty hunter. The man's body skidded across the leafy floor and hit the tree stump with his back. Lina landed perfectly on her two feet and smiled at the various hurt bodies around her. Even without a revolver, the Bandit Killer is still a Killer. She turned her head to the two fallen robots and laughed slightly. Did the hunters really think robots can stop her?

"Did they forget?" Lina snickered and proudly put her hands to her hips. "I am invincible!" As she laughed by herself, Lina did not hear the shuffling of another robot stepping from hiding. The slim human-sized machine stepped closely behind her and lifted its heavy right arm, carrying a large metal axe in hand. It was only when she heard the robot's arm squeak did she turn around but it was already swinging its axe at her direction.

"SHIT!" Lina yelped and dodged the sharp edge in time. She fell backwards, landing on the soft leaves and rolled her body to the left when the robot brought the axe down. Just when Lina was getting onto her feet, the monster robot swung the back of its axe into her stomach and launched her back a few feet. She landed roughly on her side, curling at her gut.

"F-Fuck…" She struggled to get off the ground. Lina watched as the robot slowly made its way to her figure. If she only had her weapons, she could kill this thing in a heartbeat! Suddenly, in the middle of its march, the bottom of a wooden staff stabbed in the middle of the robot making it fall to its knees. Lina gulped, she lifted herself to her elbows and watched the robot drop to the ground, face forward.

"You are not a robot, Lina Inverse." Standing behind the fallen machine, Lina stared at the man who saved her once again.

"Mil... Milgazia?" Lina shook her head and rubbed her tired eyes to make sure she wasn't looking at a ghost. Milgazia walked over the robot and stepped to her side.

"What the hell, man?" She accepted his hand and let him pick her off the ground. "I heard you were dead."

"I am dead." In the tranquility of the forest silence, Milgazia told Lina about his death and the robot that brought him back. He told her quietly, what has truly happened in the other regions of the world and will become of it if she continues to be foolish. Finally, only for her ears, he told her the terrible intentions of the robot race. A dreadful expression appeared on Lina's face. Her eyes doubled in size as she listened and her bottom lip trembled aggressively. In a panic, Lina gulped several wads of saliva to prevent herself from throwing up.

"He is safe for now. A member of the Alliance of the North is watching over him." Milgazia reached into his kimono and took out a white envelope. Lina carefully opened it. Inside was a letter, there was something small written. She read the note and reread it again. The developed cold sweat over her body remained but her shaking hands had stopped. Taking a composed breath of air into her lungs, Lina shredded the note into pieces and threw it over the leafy ground.

"So," Lina wiped away her nervous sweat coolly. "Gourry is under her watchful eye."

"He will be safe but the Outlaw Four are strong and persistent." Milgazia turned his head away, in which Lina did too. Strolling towards them was the crazed General Sherra and behind her was an army of large robots. "She, alone, will not be able to keep them away for long."

"If things turn out the way you tell me, she will eliminate him for the sake of humanity. I have to get to him fast." Lina muttered. She was in the middle of turning towards Sherra when Milgazia stepped in front of her.

"I will take care of this. You must go to Gourry and destroy the extraction chamber before they find another suitable vessel."

"And how am I supposed to do that when I have no weapons?" Lina asked annoyingly.

"Go to the North." Milgazia told her. "Go to the Alliance of the North's secret base and they will assist you with weapons. But beware, the Supreme King, Dynast Gausherra, is one of the Outlaw Four. He resides in the North and will know the second you arrive."

"Alright." Suddenly, Lina grabbed him by the shoulder and they stared at one another for a second. "Don't die again." She said with a smirk.

"I died the moment she rejected my hand in marriage."

"There you go again. Filia was only 10 years old at the time, you sicko." The redhead rolled her eyes and gave him a playful jab on the arm. "And besides, maybe her views on you have changed."

"No." Milgazia snorted. "Her views are on another." He said it with such hatred that even Lina got a little angry too. The dark moment passed on quickly when General Sherra released a deadly laugh and Milgazia looked back at Lina with a smirk. "We'll see each other again, Lina Inverse."

"Next time, don't wear a stupid hat. I was close to murdering you in your sleep last night." She stuck her tongue out and raced towards the opposite way. Seconds later, she met with Filia and Pokota, whom were getting ready to leave.

"Where's-"

"He'll meet us in the West." Lina answered Filia quickly, not telling her that she left him alone with a massive army. As she was grabbing several items from the cabin, she was not aware of her shimmering jewelry dropping off her neck and to the hardwood floor. It was only when the next inhabitants of the cabin did the beautiful ring get noticed again and picked off the floorboards. This time however, it was used to generate pressure upon a man's decision.

"Boy," Gourry looked up from the ring. The woman in black tight clothes crossed her arms over her large chest and looked at him with her deadly dark red eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Why is Lina going to the North?" He asked.

"Saillune is gone, boy." She sighed. "The only place to get working gunpowder would be to enter the Lion's den and take some from under his nose."

"She's not alone. Zel and Filia-"

"Zelgadiss and his girlfriend separated from the group a long time ago. That large woman is hurt and will die from her wound if not treated right away. And that robot child is useless." Hunching her body forward, the woman glared at him intensely.

"Lina is going to die."

"She LIED to me-"

"IS A LIE MORE IMPORTANT THAN A LIFE?" Suddenly, the woman reached over and grabbed Gourry's collared shirt, she shook his upper body with great strength. "She is risking her life to save your intolerant ass and you don't care. I should kill you so she can move on and swoon over a better man."

"Why don't you?" Gourry growled, meeting her angry eyes with his. Her lips creased into a smirk under the black material and she dropped him back to the bed.

"A duo is only defeated if separated." She whispered and moved off the bed. "It is not my place to kill you. It is hers." Gourry watched her pick up her weapon and stuff it into her waist stash. The end of the chain dangled against her shapely leg as she walked to the only door in the cabin.

"I will return in the morning and you better have an answer ready for me, boy. The correct answer."

"What about Sylphiel?" He mentioned unexpectedly. "She is going to die if I don't go to the West-"

"That other woman was already dead when you got her involved." She said sternly. "The West is where Hell-Master resides. You go there and you will die." And she left the cabin. Gourry stared at unmoving door with troubled eyes. Troubled because he unknowingly killed Sylphiel when he came uninvited into her life and everything that mysterious woman told him was the truth, Lina is nothing without him and he is nothing without her. Separated, they are both a mess but together, they can be a big mess except it will eventually work out in the end.

"She does not love me." He said loudly and felt his heart break even further. But he looked at the dirty ring in his palm and tightened his fingers around it. "And I… still love Lina…"

* * *

Filia and Pokota watched as a bouncing redhead walked calmly into the borders of the North. Lina had decided that she would go alone for Filia would only slow her down and Pokota was too much of an importance. No matter what they said, Lina wouldn't change her mind so eventually they gave up.

"This isn't right." Pokota muttered, he held onto Filia's side.

"Nothing about this is right." She motioned for him to turn back into the thick Eastern forest. "But we can pull it towards the correct path." Filia smirked and positioned herself on his back.

"Quick, get us up the mountain." And quickly he did, Pokota passed through the entire forest in no time and was climbing the front of a destroyed mountain. (Destroyed by Lina Inverse's recently upgraded Dragon Slave) At the ledge of the deep crater that Lina's Dragon Slave created, Filia looked over Pokota's shoulder and tried to find what she was looking for. There, in the deep center of the giant hole, were the shredded pieces of the late-Huraker's invincible creation, the Tank.

"Isn't that…?" Pokota pointed and Filia nodded.

"I already have a weapon in mind." She grinned. As Pokota carefully made his way into the hole with Filia on his back, they didn't see a man stepping to the ledge, watching them closely. It was only when they got to the wreckage did Filia felt like being watched and turned her head. The man had disappeared back in the forest, where General Sherra's army had been wiped clean and she had just fled.

Milgazia had dumped his bloody and exhausted body against a large tree and was breathing even raspier. Both his arms had been transformed into Heavy Machine Guns and there were used rocket propellers on his shoulders. Dark blood formed around his body and sunk into the leafy ground, he needed time to sit.

"Amazing." A snicker came from the man's mouth. "You didn't die."

"You..." Milgazia wheezed. He hurled forward when blood made its way into his mouth and out on his chest. "When did you…"

"When will you learn?" Stepping in front of his curled body, the man was wearing Milgazia's dropped straw hat except he had his face exposed. Xellos smiled when the hurt robot looked up at him.

"I am always watching you."

"Bastard…"

"Now, now, Milgazia," Kneeling to his heels so he can be at his same eye level, Xellos brought his face just an inch away from Milgazia. "You know the rules. I brought you back for one reason only and you failed to do so." A long finger helped Milgazia to keep his head up and stay connected to Xellos's purple eyes. Milgazia stared at his unreflecting eyes and lowered his own.

"Lina Inverse… is the only person-"

"Must I relay this message over and over to you again?" Xellos sighed. "Humans will not win this war. They are mere bodies, powered by emotions and feelings." He snorted slightly.

"Eliminate their emotions and the war can be won."

"It is her love for humanity-"

"You are speaking out of turn again, Milgazia." Xellos moved his finger from Milgazia's chin to the long deep scar on his neck. "Don't forget whose Lithium that you are using."

"It will be her love that will win this war!" Milgazia swung his arm and blasted his remaining bullets at Xellos except when the smoke dissipated, in place of Xellos's body was Milgazia's hat and it was covered with holes.

"What is her love for a man going to do?" Xellos spoke from behind the tree, he positioned his rapier against Milgazia's neck to prevent him from moving. "Love is simply a nuisance."

"She will not be turned." Milgazia growled.

"She will be one of us." Lowering his head so he was whispering into his ear, Xellos snickered softly. "You may have delayed the process but you have not changed the ending. Hell-Master will be destroyed but not by a human's hand. He will be destroyed by a robot and that robot will be Lina Inverse."

"Lina Inverse will not be turned into a monster like you and I."

"Like I said, love is a nuisance." Xellos repeated and Milgazia's eyes widen. He turned his head to look upon Xellos's sneaky grin.

"Greater Beast Master knows the Alliance of the North's plan. She didn't think the Alliance would go against her after all she did for them. If you ask me, it was a waste of Lithium."

"What… What did you do, you Bastard?" Milgazia spoke in an angry, and yet surprised tone.

"Greater Beast Master was so upset that you didn't believe in her word." Xellos giggled. "So, she sent a messenger boy to retrieve Gourry and as punishment, she's going to give him up to Deep Sea in the West-"

"That will mean the end of existence to everybody!" Milgazia screamed. "Once Hell-Master takes his body, there will be no stopping-"

"Unless Lina cooperates with us and willingly becomes a robot, then maybe we will have a fighting chance!" Xellos pointed out. He raised an eyebrow when Milgazia moved too close to the blade, giving himself a bleeding scratch on his neck.

"Only a perfect robot can kill Hell-Master and Lina Inverse is not a candidate! She will not take the Lithium!" He didn't seem to care so Xellos kept his sword still.

"You were not a perfect human but you took the Lithium just fine."

"Because I was already dead." Milgazia growled through his teeth. "Dead people don't need to have Lithium incorporated with another mineral."

"That is why you were the perfect candidate to eliminate Lina Inverse." Xellos sighed. "You had access to get close and lure her away but you did the opposite." Milgazia cringed when Xellos suddenly dug his blade into his neck and pushed him against the bark of the tree.

"You sent her to the Supreme King's way and he will kill her instead, leaving us with extinction."

"She needed weapons-"

"She would've been a weapon if she had turned into a robot, you dumb fuck." The blade touched Milgazia's bone and it prevent Xellos from cutting his head off. Splashes of dark blood spilled everywhere, it smelt like a rotting corpse and it was because Milgazia is a rotting corpse. With close examination, Milgazia's skin was clammy and slightly green, his hair was falling out and losing its golden shine, and his eyes were getting duller at the second. Xellos watched this unattractive dead being struggled against his hold until he heard leaves being stepped upon behind him.

He stopped pushing his thin blade into Milgazia's neck and sat on his heels, slowly Xellos looked over his shoulder to see who was behind him. She didn't say anything but stared at him. It was only through instinct that she should follow her gut and so when Filia felt like being watched, she ditched Pokota and limped her way back into the forest.

"Xellos." Filia said with a brave front. Her large eyes flooding with shocking tears. She never thought she will see him again.

"If it isn't Fi-Chan," Xellos gasped softly with a big smile, his eyes returning cheerfully. "No name calling, I see. Are you that surprised to see me alive?"

"Xellos." She said his name again but this time, her eyes glared fiercely at him. "You should have stayed dead." Shoving past his body, Filia hurriedly went to Milgazia's side and ripped her pant's material to cover his neck wound. Xellos stared at Filia with amusement as she took care of Milgazia.

"Filia-"

"Shhhh, don't talk." Filia hushed Milgazia quiet and smiled kindly to him. "I'll take care of you."

"He's already dead." Xellos appeared next to their bodies and shoved the bottom of his foot against Milgazia's shoulder, he aggressively pushed him away from Filia and to the tree. "And I do want my portion of Lithium back."

"You are not killing him!" Filia stood to face Xellos. "Milgazia is my friend-"

"Why should I care-"

"You obviously care for you died for a stupid reason against Gaav!" Filia shouted suddenly and Xellos's smile slipped off his face. Staring intently at her golden eyes, Xellos eventually looked at the soft signs of bruises on her neck. The bruises that Gaav had left were slowly going away.

"I choose a life of obligation." Xellos whispered and he looked back at her face. "I must finish my mission and eliminate Lina Inverse before my comrades get to her."

"Why did you save me? Am I part of your mission?" Filia asked straightforward.

"I must finish my mission." He simply said and backed away from her.

"Oh, no you don't!" She lunged forward and wrapped both arms around his waist, holding him back from leaving. Milgazia raised an irritated expression and looked a different direction while Xellos looked back at Filia's upset face. "Stop dodging the question and tell me!"

"Will you let go? I am running late and Lina-San could be dead already."

"Not until you tell me!" Filia barked. Xellos sighed. With a sudden twist of his body, Filia was facing Xellos's chest and not his back-side. Her eyes got big again when he tipped her face upwards towards him. They stared at each other for a silent second before he leaned forward and grazed their cheeks together.

"It's a secret." Xellos whispered and kissed her lovingly on the temple. Seconds later, Filia was standing alone with her arms reached out and nobody in it. It took Milgazia several tugs at the end of her shirt to get her out of her funk and moving again. While she helped Milgazia, Filia's mind was aching in confusion.

A secret? Filia didn't know how to react upon it. Should she be angry or thrilled that she is apart of a secret? Angry for he is teasing her emotions wildly or thrilled for he IS teasing her emotions wildly. Filia didn't know what to make of this 'secret' and as she made a fire to warm the night for herself and Milgazia on the forest floor, Pokota joined soon afterwards, she forgot about Xellos and began work on her newest weapon creation.

"Just a little bit now, Pokota. I don't want it to be explosive like Lina's Dragon Slave."

"Okay." And Pokota raced away towards Saillune, leaving Filia and Milgazia alone with each other.

"You treat him like a child." Milgazia spoke. He was lying next to Filia's body, covered in several warm clothes of the dead bounty hunters that he had killed.

"Because he is a child." Filia told him and blew dust off of a large metal piece. "Besides, I can pretend to have another son, can't I?" She giggled softly at her remark and continued to hold the metal over the flaming camp fire.

"I would've given you many sons, Filia." Milgazia suddenly said. This made Filia smirk. "Maybe, even a daughter. She will look just like her beautiful mother." Filia blushed slightly and looked at him. Her smirk disappeared to see that some of his hair had fallen from his head. Gently, she reached over and groomed him so it would block the bald patches. Milgazia released a heavy exhale at her soft touch and closed his eyes when she pressed the back of her hand against the side of his face.

"I will have a hard time controlling the family with one girl and many boys." She whispered and Milgazia chuckled.

"But it will be entertaining watching you." He told her and Filia smiled. Milgazia opened his eyes when Filia moved her hand away, they stared at each other.

"Filia," His voice was serious. "I'm dead."

"I-I know." Filia hesitated.

"But I still love you." Milgazia finally said and Filia nodded. "Come here and kiss me." He motioned and Filia granted his wish. She kissed him on both cheeks first, then his chin, between his eyes, over his eyes, and finally, with no hesitation, she kissed him on the lips. It wasn't the first time they kissed and even though he was dead, Milgazia tasted the same. Moving her body so she was lying next to him, Filia continued to kiss him until it was him who stopped for the first time.

"I love you." He said again. Filia shuddered at his line; he always gave her vibrations down her spine when he talked to her like that. "I wish you loved me back."

"I do love you, Sempai. But… as a-"

"Don't ruin it, Filia." He exhaustively sighed and Filia giggled. She nodded and playfully rubbed the tips of their noses together, making him smile.

"I never thought I'll get you to smile like that again." She smiled at the sight of his widen mouth.

"You are the only one who can." Milgazia moved his hand behind her head and pulled her back to his lips. They kissed for awhile and when his hand traveled down her backside, Filia blushed wildly when he touched her rear. Normally, she would slap him but this time, she let him do anything he wanted.

It wasn't pity for he was dead and a robot. No, it was something else that made Filia take off her top and let him see her breasts. It was the thought of a good future that they could have had if Filia had accepted his marriage proposal. She probably would be in the same mess, running away and killing robots, but there would've been love at her side. She could've been happy and in love with her Sempai instead of being confused about what a dumb robot had said to her. It was regret of a possible good life that made Filia climb on top of Milgazia and it was her deep affection for a specific robot that made Filia cry slightly when her Sempai went inside of her.

* * *

Sitting on top of the wooden cabin with his eyes unmoved from its position, Xellos did not register when someone else sat next to him. He kept his eyes still as the two bodies in the forest, illuminated by the camp fire, make love against the leafy floor.

"Are you enjoying the show?" The woman spoke next to him; she had seen what he was watching.

"It is sex." Xellos snorted.

"It is always about the people who are having the sex." She chuckled. "You should know that." Finally, Xellos looked at the woman.

"Would you like a preview?"

"Anytime, boy." The woman in black tights patted her large breasts. "I can teach your pathetic asshole a trick or two."

"You are so not cute." He sighed sadly and she laughed loudly. Standing up, Xellos patted the dust off his black suit and tugged on his tie carefully. "Lina-San is in the North."

"What the hell are you doing here then?" Her red eyes slightly glowed brighter.

"I wanted to inform you that a messenger boy will be here in the morning so if I recommend that you hurry Gourry-San's decision." Xellos delivered and turned to look back at the two figures again. They were still on the floor.

"You are not surprised that we knew of your ridiculous plan."

"Greater Beast Master is not dumb. She would've figured it out." The woman sat back against the cabin's roof and crossed her arms beneath her neck. "I am surprised that you came out of hiding, however."

"Gaav is a tricky bastard to find." Xellos smirked. "If I keep myself hidden, he will never come out."

"So it is true. The Chaotic Cowboy is still alive."

"A Dragon Slave will not kill one of the original Outlaws." Xellos looked away from the figures since they had finished a long time ago and met with the lain woman's red eyes. "There is only one thing that can kill robots and that is other robots."

"Not if you inject them with pure Lithium." She said quickly. "An extreme amount can kill the most perfect robot."

"Or create a more perfect machine."

"It is a risk." The woman chuckled and unfolded one of her arms. Dipping the tip of one finger into the black material around her face, she slipped it off her head and revealed her true identity to Xellos, whom just smiled.

"My little sister won't turn that easily." The woman with shoulder-length maroon hair voiced.

"Not if we use her greatest weakness." Xellos tapped the end of his cane against the roof, indicating the man who was currently sleeping inside. "Only a perfect robot can kill Hell-Master and since you didn't want to do it-"

"I refused to do it because I don't care." The woman's red lips widen. "That is why I killed myself."

"And that is why we revived you back." Xellos sighed. "You don't care about humanity so you shouldn't care what we do with your sister-"

"I cared about one thing, boy." She lifted a finger towards Xellos. "And you messed that up when you brought me back to life. So, now, I have to play matchmaker. What a fucking great afterlife."

"You could give me back my Lithium." Xellos opened his palm.

"And not watch the end of all humanity?" She scoffed and lay back against the roof again. "I am actually enjoying my existence for once."

"You would've made a perfect robot, Luna-San." Xellos sighed and stepped around Lina's big sister's perfect figure. "Now you are just a dead robot."

"I'd rather be dead for real."


	25. Chapter 25 Eliminate to Survive

Chapter 25 - Eliminate to Survive

The streets were cobblestones and extremely narrow, allowing one person (or thing) to walk through. Covered in fecal matter and rotting flesh, it was evident that humans were not inhabitants. There were large wooden houses that faced opposite sides of the streets, which held artisan shops and living quarters except now, those houses were either burned down or dragged across the road. A long stream of water ran around the inner walls of the Northern Kingdom, once clean and now dirty and undrinkable.

In the lower half of the town was a great big castle, which was bordered with another set of heavy thick walls. Unlike the old houses and abandoned buildings throughout the town, the castle kept its shine and prestige. There were individual towers that were held each by inner curtains but in the farthest right of the castle, there held a detached grand tower made of solid gold. Located farther than the rest of the towers, this gold tower was magnificently high and completely surrounded by heavy armored robots with handheld weapons.

"You must avoid any contact with the robots, Inverse." The elderly man who was showing Lina around the lonely town was a member of the Alliance of the North, Dan. He was amount one of just five elderly members who stayed back in the North. Each of the five men and women dressed in individual vibrant colors and for Dan, he wore bright red body armor and his choice of weapon was a Battle Axe.

"Dan," Lina put down the telescope. She and another man were standing just outside of the town with Dan, in a stone tower blocked with thick trees, covered in vegetation. "You said that the castle is producing 10 to 20 robots a week."

"I did." The old man nodded. She looked back into the telescope and scanned the large area. When the end of her telescope stopped at the entrance of the golden tower, a heavy armored robot was leaving at that precise time with a crate filled to the brim with brightly colored minerals. Lina released a scoff and handed Dan the telescope, she told him where to look.

"Is that… Lithium?" He asked with some shock. "Those small crystals are the cause of our annihilation?"

"And it looks like there are more in that tower." Lina muttered softly as she started to pace around. While the elderly men looked through the microscopic lens, Lina began to devise a plan silently in her head. There are two mine shafts that carry Lithium, her mind relentlessly repeated. While the one in Saillune is kept in hiding, the robots had infiltrated the other in the Northern Kingdom. That could explain how the robots had come back in such a great force.

When the mines in Saillune had stopped manufacturing three years ago, the robots went dormant until they found another shaft in Dils. The second mine allowed them to better the loose technology and regain control over the humans. Lina looked back at the golden tower. However, if she were to destroy that Lithium mine to prevent anymore robots from being built or to regenerate, then, perhaps, she can go against the Outlaw Four. With only one Lithium mine kept in secret existence, the robot race will wilt in time and humans can regain control.

"What are you planning?" Dan had been watching her for a while and noticed the look on her face.

"I need to get into that castle." She abruptly responded.

"Absolutely not." The other elderly man in blue spoke up from besides her. "We are not doing any more suicidal trips-"

"That is why I am going alone." Lina said quickly. "I need to destroy that Lithium." The man in the blue carrying two daggers on his belt stared at her stern expression and looked back at his old comrade in red. As Dan kept his milky eyes on Lina, a light smirk appeared over his mouth.

"You are ambitious." The old man said aloud. "But you are just a child-"

"I am-"

"The Alliance is old, Inverse." Dan stopped her from talking. He lifted his old hands to her view and it shook gently without his authority.

"Look at these hands. It has murdered countless of lives, more than you have." Lina looked away from his hands and to his gentle face. "As my punishment, they shake and I can no longer carry my axe. These hands, that were so equipped to killing, are now useless in a time of need and my tired eyes watch children like you die in front of me."

"Dan…" Lina sadly whispered. Even Gen, the man in the blue, looked unhappy for his friend. Dan reached over and patted one side of Lina's face, his fingers gently moving some of her red strands of hair away.

"Such a strong expression." He whispered and Lina gave him a wide smirk.

"You forgot 'beautiful' and 'alluring'." Dan chuckled at this and removed his hand from her cheek. A heavy sigh passed his lips as he turned away and began to walk to the entrance of the tower.

"We will provide you with whatever weapons you desire. However, we cannot permit you access into the Supreme King's throne."

"I'm going into that castle." Lina told him directly, making Dan stop before he left the tower. He looked back at her with his milky eyes. "You can't stop me."

"Then the Alliance of the North cannot help you."

"I'm not worried." The red head said quietly and turned back to look at the castle. Dan watched the back of her head, silently critiquing her until Gen went to his side, beckoning him to leave the tower. Hesitantly, Dan finally left while Lina stayed in the tower, watching and taking notes of every robot activity happening within the Northern walls.

* * *

At the outer bailey of the castle, nearby the gold tower, Sherra stood with her hands to her hips and her eyes intently at the camouflaged area outside of town. She knew Lina Inverse was there, watching her every move. Sherra smiled coyly. The persistent redhead had made friends with the annoying humans and was obviously going to raid the castle when night falls. General Sherra knew her prey too well and will do whatever in her power to skin her alive.

"Why must I wait?" She snickered and jumped off the bailey's ledge. "I simply must kill her now!" Racing against the stone gate, Sherra stopped abruptly when a wandering gigantic robot stepped in her way. She growled at its interference and pulled back a tight fist, swinging it into the robot's tough shell. The punch created several cracks throughout the shell and it broke into pieces in a sudden second.

"Sherra." Calling her from inside of the golden tower, a heavily armored figure stood at the doorway with his helmet held under his arm, he had a long face with long dark locks and stern dark eyes. "Supreme King would like to speak to you."

"Don't tell me it was you who put that irritating thing in front of me?"

"You wouldn't have stopped otherwise." The man snorted.

"I should kill you, Norst." Sherra snarled and followed the man up the golden stairs. At the very top of the tower was a room with a single piece of furniture, a solid gold throne with maroon-colored cushions facing towards one lengthened window that outlook the entire Northern territory. Sitting on this throne was Dynast. Wearing his usual heavy armor except his mask was taken off his head and set on the arm's rest. He was showing off his handsome face and Sherra couldn't help to blush.

"I have brought General Sherra, my lord." Norst spoke when he got to Dynast's side. Norst looked exactly like Dynast except Dynast had stronger features and his hair was groomed into a shortened hairdo. Slowly, Dynast opened his eyes and looked upon Norst's face.

"Leave." He ordered and his clone General nodded. "Come, Sherra."

"Y-Yes, my lord." Sherra shyly called. She glared when Norst smirked at her redden face as he walked past her. Quickly, and yet carefully, Sherra went to Dynast's side.

"Closer." He motioned his right hand and Sherra hesitantly came closer. Her entire body shivered when he grabbed her tiny hand in his and shoved her onto his metal lap. She sat with her hands tucked on her own lap and her face looking a completely different direction. Sherra's eyes squeezed shut and released a soft whimper when she felt her lord's long fingers touching the end of her long braid.

"Do you hate your lord, Sherra?"

"I can never hate you, my lord!" Sherra quickly looked at him and blushed wildly at how close his face was to hers. She lowered her head immediately and stared at her nervous fingers.

"Then why," Using the tip of his finger, Dynast lifted her head back to where it was and met with her panicky eyes. "Do you look away from me?"

"I-I'm… embarrassed, my lord."

"Embarrassed?" He repeated.

"I'm so… c-close to my lord and I'm… I'm so… n-n-nervous." She honestly said and covered her face with her hands. Only when she felt a soft rumbling against Dynast's chest did she move her hands away. Her eyes grew wide to see Dynast's open laughter for the first time and it took several stunned seconds for Sherra to make a smile of her own and join in on his laughter.

"I can count on you to bring a smile on my face, Sherra." Dynast said as he finally finished laughing.

"O-Oh, my lord." Sherra embarrassingly moved her shoulders from side-to-side. Her body stopped moving when he placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her against his solid chest, she blushed furiously and kept extremely still.

"That is why I don't want you to go after Lina Inverse."

"What?" Her blush immediately disappeared. Sherra sat up and looked at her lord's face with slight anger and confusion. "But…" She stumbled at her words. "I… I want to… kill-"

"How many days do you have left?" Dynast suddenly asked. General Sherra stared at the seriousness on his face and looked away.

"After my last failed mission, I have used a lot of Lithium…" She confessed softly. "I only have a few more days left before I expire."

"Be truthful. Give an exact date." He ordered and Sherra nibbled on her lower lip.

"3 more days, my lord."

"3 days left for my beloved General." Dynast whispered and pulled Sherra back to his chest, he gently caressed her cheek. "Don't you want to spend your 3 days with your lord, Sherra?"

"I-I do! More than anything, my lord!" She bounced with glee, but she suddenly stopped and looked to her hands. "But… I want to… to stop Lina Inverse for my lord too."

"I will let you decide, Sherra." Dynast tilted her face back up again. "However, I do hope you would choose your lord over a human."

"Anything with my lord is more important." Without thinking, Sherra wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and hugged him. And almost immediately, she realized what she was doing and moved her arms away. But, Dynast made her come back to his chest.

"Good girl." He kissed her lightly on the forehead and Sherra couldn't block the large smile on her face. "Now, leave, I have a guest coming."

"Y-Yes, my lord." She quickly left his lap and joyously bounced away. Completely filled with the opposite emotion than when she came in, Sherra happily joined Norst in walking around the castle grounds. From the top of the tower, Dynast watched from his golden throne with his face pressed against his hand. His lips that once spread into a smile instantly transformed into a cold scowl.

"You are quite a tease, Supreme King." Dynast looked over his shoulder calmly. Leaning against the side of his chair was Riksfalto and had a patch over where her eyeball had been plucked. She smiled coyly at Dynast, bringing up a bright red apple to her mouth so she can bite into it.

"Does she know that you are getting rid of her?" When he didn't say anything, Riksfalto chuckled and took a large bite into her fruit. "I didn't think so." She said with a mouthful.

"I have no use for incompetence." Dynast stood up from his chair. "That last attempt to kill Lina Inverse was an utter disappointment to my status. There is no need to supply valuable resources to failure."

"Then why the immense honor?"

"She is a hindrance to my plans." He grabbed his helmet and pulled it over his head. "If I have to amuse her with fake appraisal to get her out of my way, I will do so."

"How horrible." Riksfalto dumped her body on his comfortable seat and watched him fix his suit. "You are certainly the worst of the Outlaw Four."

"That reputation goes to Hell-Master." Dynast snorted.

"Well, when it comes to women, you are the worst." Riksfalto sighed. "At least Hell-Master looks lovable. You, on the other hand, use your magnetism to your advantage." She threw the used apple over her shoulder and stretched her muscular arms over her head. Dynast let out another loud snort and clasped his helmet shut to his body armor, securing him in.

"Are you here to irritate me?" He changed the subject.

"The extraction chamber for Hell-Master is complete. All we need is the vessel in which he will be transferred into." Riksfalto got off the golden seat and moved to the window. "And since the vessel is accompanied by an unknown entity, Deep Sea is requesting for your assistance." Judging by the nasty expression on her face, Riksfalto was obviously upset at this appeal.

"Another disappointment in my presence." Dynast twisted his body around to face her. Riksfalto growled when he took her sharp chin in the palm of his metal hand and peered at her angry face. "You have proven to be quite a waste. Dolphin should've left you dead."

"In the end, this waste of Lithium will come out victorious." Riksfalto shook his hand away and glared furiously at him. Dynast smirked behind his mask and moved back to his seat. It seemed that his looks cannot influence everyone.

"Do not hinder with my plans or I will take out your last good eye, Riksfalto."

"I will be in the shadows." Riksfalto bent her body forward, bowing low to one of the Outlaws.

"Tolerable." Dynast sat back down in his golden throne. "When I have killed Lina Inverse, my robot army will set forth into the other regions and destroy what is left of human civilization." He bent his forearm and placed a closed fist against his chin, resting his head slightly on his knuckle. "Norst will aid you in the capture of the vessel afterwards."

"Yes, Supreme King." Just before Riksfalto leaped out of the tower through the window, Dynast called her name and she looked back at him.

"The vessel is not as foolish as you perceived him to be, ehh Riksfalto?" He peered at her with a sly smile and Riksfalto released another scowl. When she finally left, Dynast looked across his Northern territory and spotted a particular redhead stepping out from a supposedly camouflage stone tower.

* * *

It was better to go alone. The Alliance will only slow her down. So, without any help from the five elderly members of the Alliance except for the number of weapons that they lend her, Lina entered the ruined town of Dils on her own. Changed into tight clothing, Lina made sure all her weapons were strapped tightly against her body to prevent any slipups. She had a count of 4 revolvers around her waist belt, a handful of sharp daggers, and a bunch of highly explosive material tossed into a sack, tied tightly over her shoulder. She had to be quick – In and out. If she wanted to make a ruckus tonight, she would've carried a lot more weapons but this was a sneak attack. Lina patted the explosive material against her body; she kept making sure that it was still there for it was a great attribute to her plan. The plan as of now was she needed to get inside of the gold tower and destroy whatever Lithium is left using the explosives. Once that mine shaft is destroyed, the robot clan will cease to exist and humans can reign once again. This mission, Lina declared, is going to decide what path this war will likely run.

"But first," She looked at the high walls that stood between her and the castle. "I need to get past this."

"You can use this." The end of a pink ribbon was placed next to her head and Lina happily took it with a smile until she quickly realized that she wasn't alone. Crouched behind her were the two females of the Alliance of the North, Reika in pink and Mei in white.

"What the hell are you hags doing here?" Lina kept her voice down but didn't make an effort to change her atrocious language toward the elderly folk. "Don't you know that you can get killed?"

"We can't let a fellow Alliance member go off alone." Reika said with a smile.

"Girls need to stick together." Mei pumped her fists in the air. Lina looked back and forth at the two women and sighed.

"First, I'm not a member. I declined invitation." She stated and before she could reveal the second fact, a gigantic robot stomped out of hiding and surprised the three females with the end of a battle axe coming straight down at them.

"Oh, no you don't!" Nimble Mei, the white warrior, stopped the sharp axe with her trusty mace and held the sharp axe from touching any of them. Lina's eyes widen at the mighty strength the old woman had and quickly spun her head around when kind Reika, the pink warrior, jumped on the robot's extended upper limb and ran up to its helmet. With a twirl and twist of her weapon of choice, the long ribbon wrapped tightly around the robot's face and in a powerful snap of the wrist, Reika managed to decapitate it.

The Bandit Killer watched shockingly as the headless robot fell backwards and crashed its mammoth body into the heavy walls that Lina was trying to get through. Those two old bats just took on a three story robot with nothing but a mace and ribbon in seconds. Apparently, they knew how to take care of themselves.

"Are you coming, girly?" Mei called with a grin on top of the collapsed robot's stomach. "More are coming!"

"Hey, wait for me!" Lina shouted as they ran ahead. Once she made it to the other side of the wall, Lina rushed behind a pillar with the two Alliance members, hiding from the second behemoth robot that had slowly come to investigate. She watched as a group of robots, human-size but still in heavy armor, marched from the castle's open field and gathered around their collapsed comrade. Within the group, Norst stepped out and watched the headless thing struggle to get up. Unlike the other robots that were all made of metal, Norst took off his helmet and revealed his handsome human face. Lina stared intently at a knight in the shining armor. It was the robots that looked like humans who were the most strongest and from the looks of this knight, she needed to be far away from him. Norst walked around the heavy soldier, his eyes looking over every part of the broken thing. He continued to walk around the fallen robot when a messenger robot, not in armor but in similar colors, rushed to his side.

"General Norst," The thin robot knelt next to him. "Supreme King wishes to speak to you, right away."

"Tell him I am in the process of recovering our defensive wall." Norst said calmly and bent his body to pick up something from the broken robot's severe neck wound.

"Supreme King demands your presence." The robot continued. Norst snorted loudly. He turned his head to the particular pillar that Lina had been hiding behind but by this time, she and the two bats had moved to a different location. He smirked and clenched his metal fingers around the long piece of hair that he found. It was red.

"Tell Supreme King, there is a pest in his castle that I must get rid of."

* * *

At the end of the court yard, hiding behind a row of bushes with thorns, Lina managed to push the two old ladies in without getting spotted. She hushed them immediately when loud noises from the rubbing of heavy armor came running past their hiding spot. The robot army was already looking out for them. Quietly, Lina ignored the small pokes from the bush's needles and watched through the leaves as the army overlooked their spot and continued marching to another part of the yard. When Lina sat back with her two comrades, Mei pulled out a folded parchment from within her pocket and handed it to her.

"What is this?" She unfolded the paper and discovered that it was an old, tattered drawing of a map.

"We used to live in this castle during the late King Wells Zeno Gairia's reign." Reika explained and placed a finger at the corner of the map. "This is where we are hiding." Then she moved her finger to the opposite side of the map, where there was a blank space. "When this map was drawn, the golden tower did not exist so there is nothing indicating its whereabouts on this map. This is where the tower is located on this map and where you must go."

"Be aware that this map is over 15 years old. There could be drastic changes." Mei warned.

"I'm aware." Lina muttered as she viewed the old map once more and tucked it into her shirt for safe keeping. "Where I'm going, I can't take you two."

"We understand." Mei and Reika nodded. "Don't worry, we'll make ourselves useful." Mei grinned and showed off the large package of heavy explosives that she had been carrying over her back.

"We will lace the rest of the castle with our explosives and set it off individually in increments of 5 minutes." Reika said as she showed off her pack of bombs too. "You shouldn't be bothered by any robots, dear."

"When I blow the tower up-"

"We will meet you at the entrance of the castle. Those robots will be distraught with the chaos we will be delivering that we can easily slip out without ever being noticed." The white warrior copied her partner's silly smile. Lina stared at their faces. They had already made up this plan a long time ago. Without saying another word, Lina patted each of them on the shoulders and nodded. Just before another group of robots entered the yard, Lina made her break through the side entrance of the large granite castle.

* * *

She must had been running a good few yards in a grand wide hallway filled to the brim with artwork when she encountered an impossible obstacle, a group of heavily armored soldiers. Before they saw her, Lina pressed herself behind an extending part of the wall and covered her mouth with her palm to prevent her heavy pant. In instinct, she reached for her revolver at her waist but quickly stopped. The extremely loud weapon would only trigger more robots in her path. She peeked around the corner to see if any of them were still looking only to pull instantly back when one twirled its head towards her direction. A silent curse word slipped out of her mouth as heavy footsteps began stomping down the hallway. This wasn't good at all.

From her back pouch, she tightly took two daggers in her sweaty palms and braced herself for an attack until a loud explosion resonating from the other side of the castle caught the attention of all the robots. Mei and Reika had begun the diversion. Lina waited as the hallway cleared of robots and cautiously got out of her hiding spot. She dashed quickly down the opposite course of where the robots went and redirected her route. Just as she ran past an open room, Sherra poked her head out and watched the back of the redhead. Her eyes followed intensely at the human. Lina Inverse had managed to get past Norst's hands and was parading her foul stench in her lord's castle; it was good enough of an excuse to kill her. But, Sherra remembered what her lord had said to her. It is not her mission to kill Lina Inverse anymore.

"What is this?" Riksfalto asked as she stood next to Sherra's small body with her arms crossed and watched over the top of her head. "So, that's the annoying redhead that's been causing so much trouble." The one-eyed robot looked over Lina's thin and lanky body before releasing a loud scoff.

"I thought she'd be more threatening."

"How dare she trespass into my lord's home," A terrible growl left Sherra. "She deserves to be killed by my hand."

"What are you waiting for then? Go kill her." The larger female snorted.

"It is no longer my mission to kill Lina Inverse." Sherra turned her body abruptly away from the doorway and reentered the room, leaving Riksfalto to watch Lina.

"Elimination of the human race, isn't that our foremost objective?" Riksfalto suddenly asked. "Isn't that redhead a human?" Sherra froze at her declaration and slowly, looked at her. Their eyes met in the dark room.

"Think of the recognition you will receive." Riksfalto smiled. "From your followers, your peers, and from the most important, your lord, he will certainly be pleased with your insubordination."

"Recognition… from… my lord?" Her blue eyes widen at the much thought. She would do anything to please her lord. A wide spread of her ripen lips overcame her cheeks and without a spoken word, Sherra sprinted out. Riksfalto chuckled out the emptiness of the room; she went to the lone window and watched as a spectator when Sherra met up with Lina in the rear yard of the castle.

"If I didn't know any better," Lina took out her daggers and smiled. "You must have a little crush on me." Instead of answering her little tease, Sherra's arms extended out of her cuffs into solid metal swords and lunged forward in a crazed manner. Lina easily saw this attack and dodged it by moving to the side. She raised her daggers and drove the ends of it into Sherra's back, pinning her into the ground.

"Stay here like a good little puppy." Lina grinned and proceeded to leave until Sherra kicked her body up in the air and followed after her. "Dammit! Why won't she leave me alone?" She sprinted across the grassy yard, jumping over several large boulders and tackling down every robot being that was in her path. Lina knew that Sherra had a minor 'episode' in the forest but that didn't compare to the insanity that she was witnessing right now.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Sherra screeched with eyes bulging from her sockets.

"L-Sama!" Lina yelped and quicken her pace. Another explosion set off nearby and sent an array of debris to their faces, giving Lina an idea. She ran straight into the dusty debris with Sherra close behind her and managed to easily lose the mad robot. Lina made it out in one piece and looked at her surroundings. She was instantly relieved when she spotted the golden tower and yet, instantly troubled to see the handsome man in shining armor standing at the entrance.

Norst stood with a nonchalant expression and his hands folded over the handle of his sword that was stabbed into the ground. He was not intimidated by the exploding diversions that the other robots were, he knew her plan all along and had been waiting patiently for her.

"Drop your weapons and surrender." Norst said aloud when she stopped a few feet in front of him.

"You are the NICEST robot I ever came by." The Bandit Killer scoffed loudly. She moved her hands to her hips and took even large breaths to calm her rapid heart. "You couldn't have been a robot your entire life."

"I won't ask you again," Pulling his sword out of the ground; he pointed it toward Lina and narrowed his eyes angrily. "Drop your weapons and surrender." This time, Lina kept quiet. She stared at his expression and knew he wasn't joking around. He wouldn't be alone if anybody thought he couldn't handle it. He was alone for a reason and that is, there is no need for a second robot. Lina contemplated the odds. She has two revolvers, a sack of bullets, and her dragon slave with two bullets left. Not to mention a sack full of explosives, but that was for destroying the golden tower. The revolvers would injury the guy but it won't kill him. Her only option left was to use her dragon slave, except he would be expecting that. Somehow, she needs to trick him. As Lina continued to think of a plan, the debris that was floating around in the air had landed and General Sherra had made her way out of the maze. A loud screech erupted from her mouth and Lina turned around just in time to dodge her sword arms.

"Sherra, get out of the way," Norst growled. He watched as Sherra kept slashing at Lina and Lina dodging her every move. "It is I who must kill Lina Inverse-"

"Killing Lina Inverse would be MY recognition!" She screamed out and gave Lina a hard swing of her arm which managed to land a cut against her shoulder. "FUCK OFF, NORST!"

"Supreme King will not be pleased with your insubordination." He calmly said but did not move from his spot. Sherra ignored his comment and continued to swing at Lina until Lina suddenly tripped backwards. In a good position to kill her, Sherra stood over the thin broad and raised both sword arms in the air. It was inevitable that she was going to get this kill, so when both her arms were suddenly cut clean off with a sweep of a battle axe, nobody expected it. Not even the General. She remained standing with her bleeding limbs, her face still twisted in murder, for seconds until she saw her detached metal arms flop between her and Lina's feet. Lina and Sherra immediately switched places. The robot General screamed as waterfalls of blood came bursting out of her limbs like a hose, her body rolling around in the dirt while Lina watched with astonishment. Even Norst looked on with a shock.

"Are you alright, Inverse?" It was none other than Dan, the red warrior and leader of the Alliance. He had his ancient battle axe in his hand and a massive shield hooked on the other.

"I'm alright now that you are here." Lina smiled at the familiar old man. She gave him a pat on his broad shoulder as he nodded to her. They looked upon Norst who removed his sword out of the ground again and prepared to do battle.

"How long does it take to set your explosives?"

"At least 3 minutes."

"Then, 3 minutes is all you get." Dan stepped forward and pulled his weapon close to his chest. Hesitant at first but the lack of his hands shaking was enough of a motivation for Lina to leave him. Norst watched with deadly piercing eyes as Lina rushed past him and through the entrance of the golden tower. He turned his sights back on the old man and snarled softly. The old man was going to pay with his life for interfering.

* * *

Inside the tower, Lina stopped quickly at the base of the stairs. There was a staircase made of gold that was going up the tower and another going down into the ground. She was contemplating on checking the top of the stairs but decided against it and turned to go down the stairs when she saw a man standing near the downward staircase with a very sneaky disposition.

"You shouldn't be here, you know."

"YOU shouldn't be here either," She stomped past him and purposely hit his shoulder with hers.

"XELLOS." She snarled his name out through her teeth. Xellos whistled playfully from witnessing such fury and tagged behind her.

"If the Supreme King finds you here, you are dead." He snickered. Lina rolled her eyes and quicken her pace but Xellos was right on her toes. "I won't be able to help you if he attacks."

"Then, what the fuck are you doing, you BASTARD. Just tagging along for the fun?"

"It's my mission to eliminate you, Lina-San."

"Mission this, mission that," She abruptly stopped in the middle of the steps and turned to face him. "All you give a fuck about are your fucking missions." Lina stared at his unchanging expression and spat to the side. "You should have stayed dead."

"Are you possibly still upset because I told Gourry about us?"

"THERE WAS NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN US."

"If I apologize, would it rekindle our friendship?"

"I'M GOING TO TELL YOU THIS ONLY ONCE," Lina reached into her back pouch and took out her dagger. She stabbed him directly into the shoulder and shoved him against the wall, her knee immediately slammed him between his legs causing him to hurl slightly forward.

"YOU CAN'T FIX WHAT YOU DID."

"W-Well," Xellos chuckled breathlessly for his precious manhood was being flattened. "What if, I told you, part of my mission… was to separate you two," He took a quick breath. "For the good of mankind?"

"WHAT DOES GOURRY AND I BEING TOGETHER HAVE TO DO WITH ROBOTS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THIS WORLD?" Her knee did another jab into his balls making Xellos squeak.

"Your reputation precedes you in the West. Just the mere mention of your name brings interest in conversations." His speech was quick and high pitch now. "Weak robots were terrified of you and just the fact that you and Gourry-San were together, made it impossible for us to ever come close." He straightened his head so it was next to hers.

"I had the terrible burden to separate you lovebirds."

"Whose side are you suppose to be working for?" Lina growled and dug her dagger, and knee, deeper.

"Well," He panted. "The one that makes you one of us, of course."

"One of you? What are you talking about?" She shook him. "Milgazia told me the robots are after Gourry so they can transfer Hell-Master into him! It's Gourry that they want, not me!"

"It is true that Gourry is the perfect vessel for Hell-Master and that is the reason why robots have sought for him," Xellos chuckled softly and turned his face so he was looking directly into her eyes. "And when that happens, Hell-Master will be unstoppable and there is nothing that can remotely hurt him." His amethyst orbs widen suddenly.

"Except for you."

"Me?" Lina couldn't move her eyes away. "Me… as a robot?" She said it so quietly that even she couldn't hear it herself but Xellos nodded. Slowly, she unhanded him, left the dagger in his shoulder, and took a few steps backwards. She watched as he began to breathe easier and fix his body.

"You," She cringed. "If you didn't separate Gourry and I, the robots would have to kill me in order to get Gourry-"

"And there would be nobody else capable to stop Hell-Master."

"There has to be-"

"I have already approached Luna-San months ago and she had killed herself in the process. I had to sacrifice a lot to bring her back from the dead and even then, she is no good half-dead." Xellos yanked the dagger out of his body and threw it away. "She, like all the other worthy humans, are dead." Lina continued to watch him closely. She withdrew quickly when he took a step towards her, making him sigh.

"My mission consists of you and Gourry-San to be far apart from one another and to do that, I had to do something awfully terrible in order for Gourry-San to not want to come back to you-"

"You accomplished that, alright." Lina angrily grumbled.

"But I did it for your well-being." Xellos counteracted. "The more powerful robots would've gone after Gourry and you would be kept out of harm's way, just until you go against Hell-Master." As this purple-haired robot continued to speak to her, Lina's glare slowly faded and a more upset expression appeared.

"You ruined my life." She said suddenly.

"It had to be believable or the robots would have been weary of me." Xellos commented and stayed quiet for a few seconds. Lina just stood there, staring at her feet and her hands tight as a ball. He didn't like silence. It meant that there is second guessing involved.

"If it means anything, our two moments together meant nothing to me-"

"WE ONLY HAD SEX ONCE AND THAT WAS IN TAFORASHIA." Lina loudly snapped.

"Well…" He immediately regretted breaking the silence. "There was that time in the barrel."

"The barrel?" She questioned at first and then finally realized what he was talking about. "YOU MEAN THAT DREAM I HAD? THAT WAS REAL?"

"When you weren't looking, I made an incision into your skin and injected a small dose of aphrodisiac." Xellos began chuckling but quickly stopped at the look of murder flashing in Lina's eyes. "A-Anyways, I had to initiate the very thought of sleeping with me into your head-"

"YOU RAPED ME INSIDE OF A BARREL?"

"It wasn't rape. It was more of a consensual thing-"

"LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT! YOU HAD YOUR WAY WITH ME TO BLACKMAIL ME JUST SO I WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING TO GOURRY, BUT THEN YOU PURPOSELY TOLD HIM BECAUSE YOU INITIALLY WANTED US TO BREAK UP IN THE FIRST PLACE TO PREVENT ROBOTS FROM COMING AFTER ME!" Lina raised her hands to choke him. "I SHOULD FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU FUCKING MORON! YOU COULDN'T JUST TELL US EVERYTHING FROM THE START?"

"There is a time and place for everything, Lina-San!" Xellos escaped her claws of death and started down the stairs. "Right now, we need to blow this lithium mine up before those kind elderly folks get killed!"

"Fuck, you're right!" Lina yelped in the middle of her chase and put the idea of chopping Xellos's testicles to the back of her mind. As they near the bottom of the stairs, numerous sets of bombs started to go off, making the walls of the underground staircase shake. Lina and Xellos exchanged looks before jumping the rest of the stairs and sprinting down the dimmed tunnel. At the end of the hallway, Lina and Xellos came upon an average-size metal door. In a hurry, Lina didn't think twice to push it open.

"Wait." Xellos grabbed her just before her fingertips touched the door. He had spotted the electronic current rushing against the metal and prevented a bad situation from happening. Instead, he placed his left hand on the door, activating the electric current and sent multiple waves to him. Lina's eyes widen as dark smoke and the smell of burnt rubber filled her nostrils.

"Pathetic ruse." He smirked and pushed the door slowly inward. "You have to do better than this, Supreme King." When the door was completely pushed open, Lina shuffled forward into the large cave opening while Xellos held his left wrist close. The entire paw was completely singed off and revealed operating metal trinkets, even his metal digits were showing. He covered it completely with a spare white glove and joined Lina's side, who was rendered speechless from the immense abundance of glowing crystals all around them. From the ceiling, ground, and sides, there were Lithium everywhere she looked. The cave was practically covered in it.

"Shall we go for a walk?" Xellos stepped around Lina and began walking down a path through the Lithium.

"Um, sure." He was obviously not amused by the sight like Lina was. Lina immediately suspected that he had been here before. She followed him through the mine, dodging sharp edges and slippery rocks. When they got near the end, Lina started to notice that the light that the Lithium was giving out was getting faint and by the bottom of the cave, there were absolutely no light.

"The crystals are losing power." It was like he knew what she was thinking. "Lithium is strongest when there is an abundant of it. Since it's in high demand, it won't be long for this mine to lose its light."

"How much power does a single Lithium crystal have?"

"It depends on what you are using it for." Xellos stopped walking just before entering the dark mass at the end of the cave and turned around to face her. "One Lithium crystal can make your average revolver into a weapon of mass destruction or power a soldier robot for a couple of months."

"How about the Outlaw Four?" Lina asked. "How much Lithium does it take to power them?"

"Now, that's a different case." He smiled, accidentally flashing some of his teeth. Lina squirmed slightly at his wicked smile but promptly realized that he didn't propose that smile upon her. She turned around to face the other man who joined in their conversation. It was Dynast.

"How ill-fitting." A fully-covered armored figure sighed behind his elegant helmet. "Greater Beast Master's rotten pet is still alive."

"It is nice to see that you are well, Supreme King." Xellos bowed slightly forward with his hand holding his jacket from opening. "Truth be told, I simply cannot be liberated that easily."

"Everything will be dead in the end." In a blink of an eye, he was unexpectedly standing over Lina with a weapon raised high above his head. Lina's eyes widen at his rapid speed. "Your end is now." He said grimly and brought his weapon down. However, it made contact with Xellos's slick cane then the top of Lina's head. With his thin arms wrapped loosely around Lina's body from behind, Xellos kept the sharp weapon from touching her.

A smile developed on Xellos's face as a scoff was made from beneath Dynast's helmet and in seconds, they were jumping all around the dimmed cave, exchanging blades and breaking pieces of lithium. All the while, Lina hurriedly planted her explosives. She separated each one by a foot and lined it against the glowing power devices. Just as the final bomb was planted, Lina paused to take a final glimpse of the pure beauty of nature's work and break off multiple pieces of it to fill her sack that once held the explosives. In order to go against Lithium, she needed Lithium so she will take as much as she can carry.

"Where is he?" Lina swiftly turned her head at his question. Xellos had Dynast pinned against a wall of the cave. Sharp piercing edges went through his thick armor and drizzles of red blood ran down the dimming lights of the crystals, Dynast had Xellos's rapier stuck in between his helmet and body armor. He was down for the count.

"Where is he?" Xellos repeated but with a more aggressive growl. He was answered with a low chuckle and in a quick flick of his wrist, Xellos decapitated the robot. The helmet contained the head as it was tossed across the cave and bounced several times on the ground. Eventually, the head was released and was revealed that it was not Dynast who was in the armor. It was Norst, his clone.

"How did you know?" Lina asked when she got to his side. Wiping the blood that was making a trail on his blade with a handy handkerchief, Xellos cheerfully said:

"You wouldn't be alive." It was an acceptable answer.

* * *

"Using my revolver," Lina pointed at the end of a long string that started from one point of the cave to the other point. "I will light that string and will give us 5 minutes to get out of here. The explosives itself are lethal and can blow an area of 10 meters but with all this active lithium in this cave and the other unstable materials in the castle, we may need to get out of Dils just to be cautious."

"5 minutes, huh?" Xellos pulled his long Magnum off his hip holster. "Let's make it more interesting." And shot the string just at the middle, skillfully lighting it.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Lina screamed. "IT WILL TAKE US LONGER THAN 3 MINUTES TO GET OUT OF THIS FUCKING PLACE!" Before Lina could have a chance to hit him, Xellos swiped the girl off her feet and carried her off like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder. They were out of the cave in seconds and up the stairs of the golden tower in under half a minute. Sometimes, Lina forgets that Xellos is a robot and just thinks of him as an Idiot.

When her feet touched the ground again, Lina saw old Dan. He was lying on the ground with his own sword sticking out from the pit of his stomach. She stared at his brave and old body for a long second before being rushed away by Xellos. They were running in full sprint and not in hidden counters for they were not running from robots anymore, they were running from a large explosion that was going to go off in 2 minutes and kill them all.

"Lina!" Behind them, Mei and Reika were catching up to them.

"We need to get out now!" She screamed. "Out of Dils and into the forest!" As if she had run straight into a brick wall, Xellos unexpectedly stuck his arm out causing her body to slam aggressively into it and down to the ground. While Lina got a hold of herself, Xellos was trying to compose himself too. Standing just at the front entrance of his castle walls was Dynast in his truest form. With no helmet and holding twin battle axes at the side of his body, he was the only one of his army standing in their way. Xellos cursed softly. They were almost out free too.

"What the hell was that for, you asshole?" Lina didn't see Dynast yet. She arched an eyebrow when he shoved his cane to her hands. Hopefully, Xellos stepped forward to face one of the Outlaw Four, she knows the proper way to use a rapier. Twirling one axe after another at his side, Dynast kept his cool expression and said nothing. It was a silent beckoning.

"Don't waste any more time," His arms ripped the sleeves of his jacket into pieces as it transformed into rapid-fire Gatling guns. Xellos looked back at Lina with piercing purple eyes. "Become a robot."

"I'd rather die-"

"Then, so will every living creature, including your beloved blonde." He snapped back making Lina bite her bottom lip and draw blood. He knew she wasn't going to change her mind so Xellos had no choice. He made the first move and instantly regretted it. Lina watched as Dynast threw Xellos back repeatedly on the ground or to his knees. He would shoot his Gatling bullets at him but Dynast would easily reflect it with his blades. This Outlaw was practically crushing Xellos with just one axe.

"You need to do something, Lina!" Reika cried out from behind. "That young man is not going to make it!"

"Fuck!" The redhead cursed aloud and began searching around. The bomb was going to go off any minute now and they were in the presence of a killing machine. What the hell can she do? Then, as if her guardian angel was directing her eyes, she spotted the dragon slave.

"No." Lina told herself. If she used the dragon slave, it can potentially set the bomb off earlier. And besides, Xellos is in her way. He will die if she used it. She has to think of another way to help him, not to kill him.

"My… lord." She was soft but Lina heard her. Crawling by the shrugs of her shoulders, Sherra was trying to draw near to the battle between Dynast and Xellos. By instinct, Lina rushed over and grabbed the robot General by the end of her braid. She dragged the lump of metal close enough to where Dynast was pushing his two axes past Xellos's hold.

"HEY, HANDSOME!" Lina called out. Dynast looked up but his weapons remained still. She dumped Sherra in front of her and shoved the bottom of her boot on her chest, pinning her down. Then, the lock on her revolver was pulled back and aimed at the center of Sherra's face. "MOVE OUT OF OUR WAY OR YOUR PRECIOUS GENERAL WILL DIE!"

"My lord!" Sherra shouted out in a panic. Dynast stared emotionless at Lina. His icy eyes made her gulp.

"I MEAN IT!" Lina shoved the end of the revolver at Sherra's forehead. "I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" Without giving Sherra a look, Dynast let out a scoff.

"Good riddance."

"M-My lord…" General Sherra gaped, her heart literally breaking into pieces to the bottom of her stomach. Lina cursed again when Dynast return to Xellos and ditched Sherra. This time, Lina had no other options. She grabbed her dragon slave and aimed it at Dynast, and Xellos. Xellos saw her stance and smiled, silently giving her the 'okay' to shoot at him. For the first time, Lina was hesitant to killing that bastard. Probably because he was trying to protect her but all she could think about was Filia.

"Filia." She began to say but he didn't hear.

"FILIA!" Lina said it louder and this time, he did hear her. "SHE DOESN'T HATE YOU! IN FACT…" She paused to think twice about saying it. "IN FACT, SHE IS IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Almost immediately, Xellos slipped but managed to catch himself before Dynast's blade cut off his head. It was a complete sneak attack and he was mentally unprepared for it.

"There. I said it." Lina nodded to herself. The hesitation was gone and she was able to do it. Telling the two elderly people behind her to get ready to run, she unlocked the hammer down and pulled the trigger. The red bullet shot out and exploded the second it touched Dynast's body. Lina shoved Reika and Mei down to the ground and braced the large explosion that was happening just inches from her feet. It lasted more than a minute and with less than a minute left, Lina didn't want to wait around to see if any of the two victims in the explosion survived. She held Mei and Reika by hand and pulled them safely through the debris. Half the village of Dils was wiped clean off from the dragon slave but it made it that much easier to run through it.

"Come on!" Lina shouted at the elderly women. "We're almost there!" The bomb was going to go off any second and she can see the edge of the forest in her grasp! They're almost there! And that was when she heard the flaying sounds of a weapon hitting a flat surface and the tight pressure of two hands went limp. Lina didn't stop immediately; her feet kept moving until she was completely certain and turned her head around slowly. Mei and Reika were both on the ground with identical battle axes imbedded in the center of their backs. They were both dead at impact.

Standing in burned tattered clothes and black bubbling flesh, Dynast was dripping blood with every shaky step he took. The dragon slave did immense damage on him but he was alive. The motherfucker was still alive. Dragging his third weapon, a double-edge sword, on the ground next to him, Dynast made his murderous way to Lina. No words exchanged between them as they began battle. Lina blocked all his attacks with the rapier that Xellos given her and tried to push him off of her but failed. It was when she fell backwards and lost her weapon did she get a chance to get out of his range. Despite his heavy injuries, he still had his great strength. It was like her dragon slave didn't do anything.

Reaching for a dagger in her pouch and discovering that she had none, Lina got the next best thing and grabbed a rigid piece of marble from the ground. Once she aimed, she never misses. The fragment hit the center of Dynast's throat and came out the other side. Dynast dropped to one knee from this sudden attack and while he was down, Lina searched for the rapier. She had seen that once a robot is decapitated, that robot would be no longer so that was what she was planning to do. Finally, finding the sword a few feet away, Lina rushed back at Dynast with blind rage and murder in her eyes. She was going to kill him for what he and his Outlaw friends had done!

"MY LORD!" Out of nowhere, Sherra tackled Lina down in mid-strike and tossed her to the ground. She crawled using her shoulder blades and sprawled her used and damaged body over Lina's lower limps. "I HAVE HER, MY LORD! KILL HER NOW!"

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET OFF ME!" Lina easily killed the limp-less robot off, however it was too late. Dynast had managed to take the marble piece out of his neck and was striking Lina madly with his sword. She dodged and blocked his predictable wild attacks except it was his strength that was giving her a hard time. Her arms were battered and weak from his constant assault that she was really thinking of just letting him win. With the bomb going off in less than 5 seconds and they were still in its range, they are going to die nonetheless so what the hell is she fighting so hard? Loosening her hold on the rapier, she didn't gasp when he knocked it off her hands. Dynast grinned maddeningly, he turned his sword so it would come right down into her neck and with his everlasting strength, he brought his piercing weapon down.

"MY LORD!" Sherra screamed when Dynast was flung off his feet. Still lying on the ground where she had given up, Lina opened her eyes in confusion. She heard an unfamiliar sound and sat up to her elbows. Her eyes widen immensely to see Dynast down with half a dozen daggers stuck on his chest. In the quick opening that Dynast had made himself, someone struck him with 6 daggers before he had a chance to slice her head off. But who? Following the pathway of the blades, Lina twisted her body backwards and saw him. A boy she had killed a few days ago but came back as a man. She saw Val.


	26. Chapter 26 Losing Hearts

Chapter 26 - Losing Hearts

There he stood with all his body parts intact and dressed in the clothes that he wore in Saillune. Except for the dull and careless shine in his eyes, Val looked somewhat the same.

"Who…" Lina began to say but was interrupted by the growing tremors of the earth beneath her. The bomb! She quickly got to her feet and rushed to Val's side. "WE NEED TO MOVE NOW!" Grabbing hold of his wrist, she struggled to move him. He was as stiff as a board and his sights were still on Dynast.

"COME ON!" Lina fought with his inability to move. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" The unstable ground was more intense than ever. And Val didn't move. He kept watching Dynast. Not wanting to leave his side, Lina blocked his view of Dynast.

"MOVE OR I'M GOING TO-" The explosion didn't allow her to finish the sentence. Bright red fire erupted from the underground mine shaft and expanded its way within the castle walls. No less than half a second passed when the explosion activated the pure Lithium crystals and an illuminating transparent glow over powered the blistering detonation. Everywhere the light touched left a catastrophic result of disintegration. And it was in that half second Lina was picked off from the ground and briskly carried away in Val's supporting arms. She was gazing at the appealing iridescent glow of Lithium that was coming straight at her in one second and was suddenly face-down pressed against wet dirt in the middle of the forest with Val covering her body.

Were they safe? Were they alive? Lina kept asking herself as Val got off of her and lifted her thin body off the grass. It all happened so fast that Lina still couldn't believe that she was alive until she finally saw the devastation in front of her. The blistering crater was bigger than the dragon slave, at least double the size, and nothing could've survived it. Stepping to the edge of the blast zone, Lina watched with wonder as tiny weightless particles fell from the sky. She raised her flat palm to catch a few. The collected flurry was gleaming and soft to the touch like snow but it wasn't melting away.

"Ashes." Val said next to her. Lina turned her head to look upon him but he was moving too quickly for her to stare at his face, so she followed him into the ruins where Dils used to stand.

"Who brought you back?" Lina didn't bother to ask him any other question.

"Greater Beast Master." He answered so simply.

"Greater Beast Master Zelas Metallium is one of the Outlaw Four. Why would she bring you back?" She chased him to the center of the ruins where he stopped abruptly.

"Greater Beast Master doesn't want what the others want." His head was swiveling around as if he was searching for something. "She no longer wants to be in the brotherhood."

"So, she's helping-"

"No." He interrupted. "She is not helping. She just doesn't want to be an Outlaw."

"Then, what was her purpose of bringing you back?" When he didn't answer, Lina grabbed his bare arm which in turn got his full attention. "What is your mission?" She asked him instead.

"To protect Lina Inverse. To eliminate the Outlaw Four." Val said so robotically. Lina stared at his emotionless face and slowly, removed her grip.

"She's not helping the humans then."

"No..." A third person suddenly replied from besides them. Lina turned body quickly around whilst Val remained still. Xellos chuckled breathlessly as he tumbled his way out of the ruined clutter, his body acting like an anchor to pull him out. "She is... helping... herself."

"Xellos, you devil." The sight of his stupid grin made her smirk. She placed her hands to her hips and stood next to him with a coy smile. "You are damn persistent, you know that? Or was it Filia's true feelings that made you pull through?" The mention of his mother made Val glare at Xellos immediately. Xellos noticed his presence and chuckled again, this time a leak of blood streaming from the edge of his lips.

"Looks like… there will be… a family reunion, soon." Val gave him a slight scowl before going back to searching. Xellos let out a heavy sigh and saw Lina looking at him intensely. He knew what she was looking at and smirked. His entire thoracic cavity was burned open and showing off the mechanical instruments that ran his body. But unlike other robotic body that she came across with, Xellos was constructed with mechanical human organs placed accordingly like a human body and actual living blood vessels. Lina's eyes were on the beating human heart that was perfectly aligned in the middle of his chest but this heart was beating rather slowly and it seemed to be leaking blood. Suddenly, the heart began to skip beats and Xellos choked out more blood from his mouth. Lina kept watch of his dying heart and within seconds, it stopped beating and Xellos released an aggravated sigh. His head hung low and he wasn't breathing.

"Xellos…" She called his name and gently kicked him with the tip of her boot. "Hey." Lina kicked him again but harder and this time, his dead heart dropped out of his chest. Hidden behind, a brand new replacement heart crept in its place. Unlike the other heart, it was covered in a thick layer of a glossy epithelial tissue and the instant it positioned itself between his mechanical lungs, the tissue sucked itself into the heart and shocked itself to life. Xellos immediately sat up; hacking loudly for air and spitting out black pieces of used lithium to the ground, he was alive again. After getting control of his breathing, Xellos shed his ruined dress tops and took out a spare white dress shirt from out of nowhere, in which Lina decided not to ask.

"So, that is how you are cheating death." She scoffed when he stood up with no problem to tuck his buttoned shirt into his pants. "How many hearts do you need to go through to finally rest in peace?"

"Soon." Xellos mentioned and raised his hand above his head. As if it had a strong magnet, his thin sword with the ruby handle came flying across the destroyed plain and straight to his palm. Lina raised her eyebrow with a smirk; this robot was full of surprises.

"You never handled a rapier, have you?" He suddenly said when he looked over his dented weapon. "It is completely wrecked."

"That is not my fault. The craftsman didn't make it strong enough." She snorted.

"The craftsman designed it for accuracy and speed." Sliding the weapon into its thin and cylinder case, Xellos tapped the end of it against the ground and regained his cane. "I should've known that your talents came short in the fencing class." Lina rolled her eyes at him, she was about to make another rude remark until a loud shifting noise stopped her from talking. Val was kicking around large pieces of stone and rubble, revealing the shattered pieces of General Sherra. He pulled her broken body out of the wreckage and tossed her to the side like trash. Random pieces slide past Lina's feet but it was a busted bit of her face that got Lina to cringe. She wore a satisfied smile when she died and Lina knew why.

"He was immobilized." Val said a loud. He picked up a pure gold double-edge sword that was left behind and looked it over before turning to face Lina and Xellos. "How did Supreme King escape?"

"It was Sherra." Lina bent to her knees and took Sherra's face from the ground. "She gave her life to allow her lord to live." Even with Lina's gentle fingertips, the brittle piece broke into several bits in her palm.

"He abandoned her." The dead teen said as he strapped his new found sword across his back. "Why would she die for someone who had abandoned her?" As she spread Sherra's bits across the soil covered in the lithium ashes, the wind picked up across the ruins and swept the ashes and bits off the ground. Lina followed the collected wind fly away and spotted a lonely spectator standing a few yards away. Holding himself up with the sword that she made for him and wearing the engagement ring that he made for her around his neck, Gourry was finally there.

"Because she loves him." He said with both blue eyes on her. Lina was speechless. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She was a hot mess, Gourry recognized firstly; skinny, dirty, and above all, she looked exhausted but the way she was looking at him, it was like she was looking at him for the first time. Large streams of tears rolled down her dirty face and Lina called him softly, it was the first time she called him in such need and full of delight.

"Lina." He finally gave off a genuine smile for the first time after their split and Lina stormed into a full sprint to him. Even though his body was still broken in some area and his stomach was bruised terribly, Gourry used his sword to move his body quickly to her. Instead of going into a sudden embrace, Lina and Gourry stopped in front of each other with inches between them. Lina looked up at his clean face; her tears remain rolling from her eyes. Gently placing his rough hand on her cheek, he wiped off the dirt with his fingertips using her tears. His smile widen when her beautiful skin revealed itself for him. No matter what the stain was or how much, her pale skin remained beautiful. Pushing her clean cheek against his familiar calloused palm, Lina smiled lovingly at him.

"Gourry." She whispered and Gourry bent his head to touch their lips together. It was then a gut-wrenching blow was launched into the pit of Gourry's stomach, reopening several blood vessels and sending a flood of blood out of his mouth. A powerful hit on Lina's face sent her flying across the dirt and at the feet of two nonchalant men. Xellos and Val watched calmly as a wheezing Gourry was lifted off the ground and placed on the shoulder of another robot. Riksfalto looked at the two men with a smirk.

"Been awhile, Xellos."

"For a second there, I was hoping you died in the explosion." Xellos sighed and shook his head slightly. "I shouldn't have pressed my luck." Riksfalto snorted and shrugged Gourry's body securely on her shoulder. As she turned away to leave, Lina was moving off the ground. Spitting a wad of blood, Lina gasped when she heard Gourry's soft desperate call for her.

"GOURRY!" She screamed and sprang to her feet. "LET HIM GO!"

"Heavy load." Riksfalto grabbed the sword that Gourry was clinging too and tossed it to the ground. She gave Lina a sly smile and vanished before her eyes.

"GOURRY!" Lina shrieked frantically. She sprinted to where she thought Riksfalto ran towards, calling him until her voice broke. "G-Gourry…" Heavy tears still rolling down her face, Lina turned to the two men responsible for his capture. She briskly stomped in front of them and grabbed them both by their collars. Since they were taller than her, she pulled them to her eye-level and snarled at them.

"YOU… YOU FUCKING BASTARDS…" With so much anger and disturbing emotions erupting from her tiny heart, she couldn't talk properly. "B-BRING HIM BACK… BRING GOURRY BACK!"

"You need to calm down-"

"BRING GOURRY BACK, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS, OR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She shook and bumped their heads together. "BRING GOURRY BACK NOW! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK!"

"You are behaving like a child-"

"YOU LET THAT BITCH TAKE HIM! YOU FUCKERS LET HIM GET CAPTURED!" Instead of holding onto their shirt collars, Lina was squeezing their throats now. "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING? WHY DID YOU LET HIM GO? WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING, VAL?" She was now questioning Val, who had remained silent during the whole ordeal.

"HE'S YOUR FRIEND!" Lina screamed at his face. "WHEN YOU WERE A KID, GOURRY READ YOU BEDTIME STORIES EVERY NIGHT BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT YOU LOVED HIS STUPID CHARACTER VOICES! HE TAUGHT YOU HOW TO RIDE A HORSE AND HOW TO SWORD FIGHT!" Val kept his eyes to the ground, refusing to look at her truthful expression. "WHENEVER YOU WERE SICK, IT WAS ALWAYS GOURRY'S IDEA TO VISIT YOU! HE SAW YOU AS HIS LITTLE BROTHER-"

"SHUT UP!" Val suddenly snapped at her. "Gourry is my brother too."

"Then WHY?" She shook him. "Why did you betray him?" Val kept his glare steady until eventually, the softness in his eyes returned and he sighed. Xellos moved his piercing amethyst eyes over, silently warning him, however Val ignored it.

"Hell-Master needs to be reborn into a brand new, workable body. He needs Gourry and Riksfalto is going to give him Gourry." He said and Lina winced. She let go of his and Xellos's shirts and took a few steps back. "As a human, you can't do anything. But… as a robot, you can save Gourry-"

"You bastards." Lina suddenly cursed. "You handed Gourry over to the enemy hoping that it will entice me to become a robot to save him." They didn't say anything but Lina knew she spoke the truth.

"You fucking bastards. You were going to use my fucking emotions to become one of you."

"You see-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, NAMAGOMI!" Lina silenced Xellos instantly. "IT'S YOUR DAMN FAULT IN THE FIRST PLACE THAT MY LIFE IS RUINED AND NOW, GOURRY IS GOING TO DIE BECAUSE YOU TWO FUCKING ASSHOLES HANDED HIM KINDLY OVER TO THE ENEMY!" Panting heavily and rubbing her eyes harshly to get rid of her angry tears, Lina turned her body completely away from them.

"I am not a weak human being." She said when her tears stopped and got her emotions in check.

"You are a highly strong adversary, Lina-San. It's just… Hell-Master-"

"HELL-MASTER used to be human." The redhead snapped at him. "He became a robot because he was weak. I'm not weak." Xellos and Val watched Lina walk to where Riksfalto had stood and picked up Gourry's sword from the ground. She hooked the sword to the side of her waist and looked back at the two men with a pushed nose in the air.

"Come on. We're going to the west."

"That is a VERY bad plan. The west is FILLED with robot activity-"

"You were planning to take Pokota and me to the west so what's the damn difference?" Lina snorted.

"My mission under Hell-Master was to bring Pokota-San to the west but when I died, my allegiance with Hell-Master died as well. Now, my body is in alliance with my original master, Greater Beast Master Zelas." Xellos walked over to her side and scrunched his eyebrows in the middle.

"I am no longer a friendly robot under Hell-Master. I am a traitorous robot under Greater Beast Master. Robots will not hesitate to attack a traitor."

"I'm not asking you to join me." Lina glared. "It's better if I go to the west and rescue Gourry alone."

"How do you plan to do that?" Val asked from behind. "Stroll in there and hope that the robots will hand him over? You are a human, Lina, not a robot."

"Don't stop reminding me, kid." She smirked and started heading towards the west. Val and Xellos watched as she traveled farther away from them, their bodies remained still. It was only when Lina tripped on a piece of extending rubble did Val eventually sighed in defeat, his shoulders sagged.

"Flat-chest little brat. It's always her way or no way." Val grumbled through his teeth and ran over to help her. Xellos sighed as well, but instead of running, he calmly made his way over.

* * *

He felt no pain. All he felt were gentle fingers touching several parts of his body and the cold metal board that he was lying on. Judging by the bright light that was burning through his eye lids, he was somewhere really bright. Ultimately, Gourry decided that it was about time to see where he was and beckon his arm to block the light from shining directly into his eyes but his arm was strapped down. Gourry tried to move his other limps and failed. He was completely strapped down to the metal table beneath him and when he opened his eyes a crack; he saw a thin figure standing over his body through blurry vision. Perhaps a woman, Gourry didn't know but the figure walked next to the side of his head and blocked the light so he can open finally open his eyes.

It was a woman and she had long blue hair and dangling drop earrings. He instantly shut his eyes when the woman moved and he asked loudly her where he was. The woman said nothing but Gourry felt the metal table flinch. He was being moved and away from the light. Eventually, the bright light disappeared and Gourry fully opened his eyes. He discovered that he was completely strapped on a metal table and with minimum clothes on. Turning his head around, he spotted the woman with blue hair, she was the one pushing him on the table.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked loudly but no answer. Gourry looked quickly forward when the woman pushed him through two swinging doors and into a large room where the lights from the heavy technology around were enough to brighten it. She rolled him to the middle of the room, next to another metal table. Lying on the table, Gourry knew there was a body from the way the blanket dipped into its shape. It was a body of a young child. The woman with blue hair walked between Gourry and the other body's table, she stopped at the end of the tables and grabbed the white sheet that covered the body. In a flick of her wrist, it was revealed a young boy with shoulder-length hair on the other table. The boy appeared sleeping for his chest was moving but with multiple tubes and wires located everywhere on his body that hooked to a heart reading machine. Who was this boy?

"What the hell…" Gourry stared at the boy with wide eyes and looked back at the woman; she was walking around Gourry's table with a clipboard. "WHERE AM I? WHO ARE YOU? ANSWER ME!"

"Vessel number two is awake." Dolphin spoke as scribbled small notes. She looked up and nodded over to her assistant, who was pushing over small cart with needles. Gourry quickly recognized the assistant and snarled at her.

"WHERE DID YOU TAKE ME? WHERE AM I?"

"Restrain vessel number two while I get the inoculation ready." Dolphin took over the cart as Riksfalto walked to Gourry's table side. Twisting the knobs beneath the metal bed, Gourry jerked when the table began to tilt slightly forward thus forcing his body to trust the tight straps that held him down. Then, grabbing a hold of Gourry's head, Riksfalto tied a towel over his mouth, shutting him up.

"Be a good boy." She snickered and patted his forehead. He muffled a loud curse word to her and tested his restraints again. It was no good; he wasn't going to get out of them. It was then, he noticed the lady scientist turn around and in her hand was a long syringe, filled with a clear substance. She squirted a little bit out of the tip of the needle and stepped over to his side. Gourry wriggled his body so she wouldn't be able to give him the shot but Riksfalto slammed her sharp elbow into his stomach and his body froze in pain. Inserting the long needle into his blood stream, Dolphin injected the entire tube and Gourry instantly felt the full effects of the formula.

His body jerked against the metal table. He felt prickling needles running up his arm and across his chest. The flow of the blood carried the injected liquid down his body and up to the back of his eyes. During all this, Dolphin took another syringe of the same formula and went to the other side of the table. She injected the second dose into his other arm and this time, Gourry let out his first scream of pain. Unlike the first dose, this one felt like burning lava running against the inside of his body. Heavy sweat flooded his face and Gourry thrashed against the table, his muffled screams blocked out the excited heart beat coming from the other patient.

"Interesting." Dolphin noted his reactions on her clipboard and motioned Riksfalto to remove the towel over his mouth.

"WHAT… WHAT DID YOU GIVE ME?" Gourry snarled when his mouth became free.

"Vessel number two's body is resisting the active Lithium as suspected," She walked around his table and placed her clipboard on the cart with the needles. "But unlike vessel number one whose body refused the first dose, vessel number two is still alive and breathing normally."

"I knew it..." A weak boyish voice muttered next to Gourry. He turned his head and saw the other patient staring intently at him. The boy had deep dark circles under his dark eyes, pale skin that showed his thin blood vessels beneath it, and his wicked smile. It was frightening. "Continue…"

"Of course, Philbrizo." Dolphin bowed in his presence. Gourry's eyes widen at the mention of his name. This boy was Hell-Master? He is just a child! Gourry opened his mouth to say something but the appearance of the third needle changed his subject of conversation.

"How many doses are you planning to give me?" He growled through his teeth when Dolphin grabbed his twitching right arm.

"When the body accepts the lithium, vessel number two will disregard all memories, be unable to feel any emotion or pain, will pay no heed to human passion and desire nothingness." She positioned the needle to his skin. "Until then, vessel number two will be ready for full transfer."

"But-But I won't be human anymore!" The third dose was just millimeters from his skin.

"That's the idea." Almost immediately Gourry released another scream of pain.

"Y-You may break my body," He spoke through the mighty pain and glared at the three tormentors who were grinning before him. "BUT I WILL NEVER GIVE UP BEING HUMAN!"

"As expected." Dolphin motioned to Riksfalto. Riksfalto nodded and walked out of Gourry's vision. When she did step back in however, the muscular woman was pushing an individual in a wheelchair. Positioned in front of Gourry's tilted table, Riksfalto shook the female's shoulders, waking her up.

"No…" It was Sylphiel. She was sitting on the wheelchair with wires hooked to her body. There was a leak of blood from her mouth that had been dried and from the weak expression on her face; she had been through a lot. "Sy… Sylphiel." Gourry's weakened voice made a quick effect and Sylphiel instantly looked up.

"Gourry-Sama..." Even her voice had changed. It was more weak and feathery.

"What did they do to you?"

"G-Gourry-Sama..." Sylphiel's lower lip quivered and just as she was about to speak, Riksfalto pressed a button on a remote control in her hand. A strong electric current ran straight through Sylphiel's body from the wires and she gave out a screeching scream. Even with his eyes closed, he could still hear Sylphiel's agonizing scream.

"YOU'RE KILLING HER! STOP IT!" He shouted over and over again, helpless and whining. But Riksfalto kept her thumb over the button, stopping only when Dolphin told her too. Over the course of several hours, it was a continuous back-and-forth of a long needle being injected into Gourry's body and torturing Sylphiel for an excruciating long while. Eventually, Dolphin saw a dramatic change in Gourry. He had stopped screaming in pain and when Sylphiel was being shocked, he would keep his eyes open and watch intently at her twisted face. His spirit was slowly withering away.

* * *

After winning over Xellos and Val, Lina made it through the western borders without detection. She and the two men sneaked past the wandering robots and found themselves at the edge of a flourish wild forest, looking at a completely deserted town in the plain thick desert. The town in the west looked exactly like Saillune except there was nobody wandering the streets. And spotted on the other side of the town, surrounded by a large cemetery, there was a huge tower just like the one in Dils but it wasn't made of gold.

"Used Lithium," Xellos spoke. "It is an impenetrable tower of the strongest substance in the world. Nothing can break through and tear it down."

"Unless you have a weapon powered by Lithium." Lina mentioned with a smirk and waved her Dragon Slave in his view.

"I wouldn't use that just yet." Val snorted. "Gourry could be in there."

"Of course, he is in there." The advance robot then pointed to the top of the tower where it was barely touching the bottoms of the collected dark clouds. "At the top of the tower."

"How do you know?"

"That is Deep Sea's laboratory." He told her. "That is where she conducts all her experiments, including transferring of bodies."

"You know quite a lot for being the Outlaw Four's pet." The dead teen commented next to him. Xellos chuckled slightly, he looked over to him.

"It won't be the first time I'll be going up that tower." Xellos and Val stared at each other for a long while until Lina pulled their heads into the bushes. She hushed them and motioned to the side. A robot was silently making its rounds around the forest's edge. Val rolled his eyes; it was a simple robot with no heavy defensive plates or weapons. He grabbed his trusty dagger from his waist and pulled back to throw, but another dagger was thrown from besides him and striking it accurately into the robot's important mechanical parts. Lina smirked and looked back at him.

"The student cannot surpass the master without consent." She winked. Val scoffed loudly but couldn't block the slight smile that developed on his face.

"Come on," Lina stepped out of the forest's protection and dragged the other two out. "Let's get Gourry before they do something to him."

"It is likely that Deep Sea has already started pumping Lithium into his body." Xellos said as he walked behind the redhead.

"Then let's get Gourry before he turns into a mindless fool."

"Not likely." He continued negatively. "By the time we cross this god forgotten town, Hell-Master would be in his new body and Gourry-San would be no more."

"You didn't have to join us, you know." Lina grumbled. Finally after an hour crossing the desert, she and the two men entered the silent town; their eyes peeled to their surroundings as they quietly AND quickly made their way towards the tower. It was Val who stopped the others at the sight of the first robot. The size of a regular human and wearing a thin sheet of metal over its body, the robot was seen stepping out from behind a wooden shop and stop in the middle of the dirt street. It turned its robotic body towards the visitors and pointed the end of its single gun at them.

"I'll handle this." Val pulled his dagger out and flung it expertly across the far distance. He hit the target precisely in the center of its abdomen making it flinch in its step. Believing that he 'handled' the situation, Val glanced at Lina and Xellos with a cocky smirk until he heard a snap of a gun. He looked back at the robot and breathed easily to see that it had released its bullet into the air until he saw the trail of a red flashing signal above their heads.

"Idiot!" Lina slapped the back of Val's head. "That robot was a scout!"

"Scout?" Within seconds, robots of various sizes stepped out of hiding and surrounded the three. Within minutes, all they could see were robots filling the entire town. With their backs pressed against each others, bigger and deadlier robots came treading heavily out of the forest and pointed their guns directly at their faces. "How would I know that was a scout?"

"A lone robot walking aimlessly around town is the first HUGE indication." Lina continuously hit the teen at the back of his head. She stopped punishing the boy when the silent robot finally spoke.

"I advise both of you," Xellos kept watch of the nearest robots treading closer. "To duck." In an unexpected move, Xellos's long sleeves split into thin tatters as his arms transformed into large Gatling guns. Lina yelped at the sight of his arms and shoved Val straight to the ground with her. Raising both arms straight out, Xellos unleashed rapid speed bullets and twisted his body to catch every robot surrounding him. One after another, robots continued to drop. It was an endless array of carnage.

"I expected much." Riksfalto snorted. She stood triumphantly on top of the tall tower with her heavy blade on her shoulder, looking down at the three invaders. After crackling her knuckles loudly, Riksfalto leaped from the roof and landed lightly on the ground. As if her sword was weightless, Riksfalto sprinted towards Xellos just as the last wave of robots was being killed. Inches away and her sword already swinging back to slice him through his neck, she was not at all shocked when Xellos blocked her sudden sneak attack by clashing his impenetrable Gatling arm with her weapon. Lina and Val jerked away from the two robots, fearful that they would engage in an all around battle. Instead, they remained in their position with their weapons clinging to one another and grinning faces.

"Finally," She snickered and pushed her shaking blade closer to Xellos's neck. "I get to kill you."

"On the contrary," Xellos shoved back. "I get to kill you, Riksfalto-San."

"You are mindful and polite as always."

"Emotions can be easily damaged." Kicking off the ground and away from her, Xellos shrugged his tense shoulders and used this free chance to change his arms back to normal. "The last thing I want to do is hurt your emotions, Riksfalto."

"Says the humanitarian who couldn't make it as a full robot." With a swing of her neck, Riksfalto whipped her long green bangs away from her only eye and smiled wickedly at her rival. "Unlike you, I was able to reject all human emotions and successfully became a robot. I am stronger than you, Xellos."

"It is true that you had no regards of your past memories of being human and you were able to become a robot." Xellos slowly unleashed his sharp rapier from its sheath. Then, pointed the sword at Riksfalto with a chuckle passing through his lips, his sharp purple eyes flashing vibrantly.

"But you are terribly mistaken," Riksfalto flinched. "Our masters build me to be stronger than you."

"Liar!" Just when she screamed, a collection of robots appeared around them. Lina and Val pressed their backs together while Xellos remained staring at Riksfalto.

"Get to the tower." Lina looked over to him and met his eyes. "And apologize to Gourry-San for me." Seeing the confident smirk on his face, she smirked back.

"Consider it the last favor I'm going to do for you." She winked and watched him flee into the air with Riksfalto after him.

"You know, this will be a lot easier if you take the Lithium." Val revealed his brand new sword. Lina rolled her eyes and pulled back the hammer of her trusty revolvers, she aimed at the heads of the closest robot.

"Then the human race will be lost." She said and placed the first shots into the robot that sprung out of link and rushed at her. Releasing all her rounds at the first wave at robots, she quickly ditched her guns to the ground and took Gourry's sword out of hiding. She and Val dodged the speedy bullets and rushed straight into the robots with their gleaming blades, swinging the weapons around and slicing every robot they see in pieces. It wasn't long until it was Lina and Val standing in the rubble and before any additional robots came along, they raced away out of sight and to the tower.

* * *

Her head leaked of blood however, that was the least of her worries. Sylphiel watched through blurry vision. The woman with blue hair was injecting another needle full into Gourry again. She had lost count after the first hour and it had been too long since Gourry made a reaction or a sound. He simply watched her get tortured and didn't budge from his metal table. His emotionless eyes frightened her. Then, when the woman ordered her muscular assistant to stop the torture, Sylphiel was shoved off the wheelchair and out of the wire's reach. She lay on the cold tile floor, hugging her shoulders and cringing at the extreme sensitivity around her body. It was until she saw the woman putting plugs and wires into Gourry's skin did she try to get off the floor. It was the same wires and plugs as the little boy smiling on the other table had on his body. The muscular assistant had left and the other woman had her back turned to Sylphiel so she slowly crawled to where she can see everything.

She followed the wires connecting to Gourry's skin to a large machine activating between the two tables and noticed the same wires from the little boy's body connected to the other side, then blue-haired scientist opened the top compartment of the machine and grabbed a sharp utensil nearby. Sylphiel gasped when the woman stabbed herself in her flat palm over the open compartment and liberally spread her bright red blood inside. What was she doing? Sylphiel had no idea so all she could do was watch. The electric shocks had stunned her mobility to move her legs. Once there was enough blood in the machine, the compartment closed and the woman wiped her blood wound with a clean towel. It was amazing though. With just one wipe, the wound had closed and left nothing, not even a scar.

"She's not human…" Sylphiel declared. Suddenly, with a flip of a switch, the large machine activated and the non-human woman stepped away from the tables. She gave a wide smile, staring intently at Gourry's body. Sylphiel finally looked at Gourry and covered her mouth quickly to stop her loud gasp. His entire body was literally jerking and dancing harshly against the metal table. His face was twisted in pain and terrible discomfort. He was hurting.

"N-No…" Sylphiel whined and tried to move her legs but winced immediately. It took several intense seconds but it was enough for Gourry. He let out a horrible, heart wrenching screech that Sylphiel ever heard, making her instantly cover her ears. He screamed out so terribly that the floor beneath her body vibrated. His scream echoed throughout the tower, spread across the long cemetery, and into Lina's ears. She gasped a loud at the wretched sound and her body stopped moving, she stood in the middle of the town with her entire attention on the scream. It was the most horrible sound that she ever heard.

"Gourry." Val stopped as well to listen but then spotted the robots stepping out of hiding. He grabbed Lina's wrist, waking her out of shock.

"Gourry needs you." He said strongly and Lina nodded. "It is up to you." Swiftly, Val grabbed Lina by her thin waist and picked her right off the ground.

"VAL, YOU IDIOT!" Lina waved her limps wildly as Val kept her in the air. "RESPECT YOUR DAMN ELDERS!" Finally, she noticed the robots forming around them and reached around to grab her spare daggers except Val had another idea.

"FLY!" He screamed out and tossed Lina's straight thin body into the air. Her body wailed violently as she cut through the sky and began to fall. The dirt was coming quickly and Val didn't equip her with a parachute. Luckily, there was a mound of soft dirt conveniently placed for her landing and Lina landed quite nicely, on her bottom.

"FUCK… FUCKING…" The redhead rolled off the mound and to her knees. Her hands placed on her bottom, massaging it due to the soreness. "FUCKING… FUCKING BOY!" She screamed hoping Val was close enough to hear. After getting the kinks out of her butt, Lina saw the tower was right in front of her. She had landed in the middle of the cemetery surrounding the long tower. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lina ran as fast as her legs can to the entrance of the tower. The entrance of the door was closed shut but that didn't stop her. Using her entire body, Lina slammed against the door easily down and quickly ran in. There was a twisted staircase that went upwards and it was at the top of the tower that Lina could still hear the agonizing scream. She ran. She ran so hard and quick that it was inevitable that Lina would lose her energy by the mid-run but she kept going. All she could think about was Gourry and all she could hear was his tortured scream. There were only a few steps in front of her when his scream died down and Lina called his name desperately.

"GOURRY!" Why did he stop screaming? He couldn't be dead… She quickly forced that thought out of her head. No, Gourry is a fighter! He isn't dead! He isn't a robot! He isn't Hell-Master!

"GOURRY!" With only five more steps left, Lina lost her footing and fell forward. Gourry is the world's best swordsman! He is the only man who could stand in the Bandit Killer's way! He is the greatest man that ever stepped on this planet! Shoving her weak body off the stone steps, Lina lunged forward up the final step and stumbled to the door that separated her and the top room of the tower. Her fists pounded against the wood door.

"GOURRY!" Gourry is the greatest and loving and most caring man that she ever met!

"GOURRY!" So, Gourry can't be dead! Repeatedly pounding against the door and not getting through, Lina finally unleashed her blade. Made with active Lithium, Lina sliced the door and some of the tower into pieces and flung her body in. What she saw stunned her immensely.

"Lina!" Sylphiel was shocked to see her past co-worker in the flesh but apparently, Lina was not shocked to see Sylphiel back. She was more in shock to see Gourry on the metal table, hooked up to a large machine and his chest was not moving. Her eyes kept on Gourry's stone figure. He laid there with wide eyes and mouth slightly open. He had fought to the last brink and lost.

"He's dead." The sword in her hand dropped from her hand. "Gourry's dead." Lina didn't move from her spot. She kept watching his lifeless body in front of her until her vision went blurry from the rainfall of tears erupting from her eyes.

"Lina, no!" Sylphiel shouted out, Lina was frantically racing to Gourry's body. "No, Lina! Gourry is-" She was suddenly silenced when Dolphin appeared next to her and slapped her mouth closed. Sylphiel sprawled over the floor, unconscious after a hard slap. Dolphin smirked and looked back at the redhead, who had her body flung over Gourry.

"G-GOURRY!" Lina sobbed tremendously. The etched cracks that were already in her heart gave way and broke the organ completely into pieces. Every hidden feeling and emotion that plagued her and thought of as a weakness erupted through her thick layer. The tears from her eyes dripped onto Gourry's pale face and neck. It was the most she ever cried and it wasn't just Gourry's death that she cried for. Her tears were for everything. From the destruction of Saillune, to being hunted out of her hometown, to betraying her best friend in her time of need, to meeting her friends for the first time, to learning the death of her elder sister, and to the moment when her life started; when she fell in love with Gourry for the first time. Gourry is dead and so is her life. Without him, life is not worth living.

"I…" Lina choked. "I… I love you, Gourry." The words that he wanted to hear from her for so long, it was the same words that she wanted to tell him for so long and he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear her lovely words because he's dead and it was her own damn fault. Lina released a heart-pulling whine out of her vocal cords and called him again.

"Come back…" She begged. "Come back… please, Gourry…" She gripped her fists around Gourry's golden locks and tugged, hoping that it will wake him up.

"P-Please…" Her voice was breaking. Pleading and begging wasn't going to bring the dead back but Lina had no other hope left. "Please…" She dumped her face against his neck and continued to cry until...

"Li… na." A shaky voice whispered. Still sobbing, Lina tilted her head up and saw the body on the other table. Unlike Gourry, the little boy was alive and breathing. He was struggling to breath and looking at her through a painful expression. "Li… na." He called her name with bated breath.

"W-Who…" She had no idea who that little boy was and she didn't care. All she cared was that Gourry, her love, is dead. Lina choose to ignore the little boy's calling and continued to cry.

"Li… na." The boy kept calling and lifted his weak thin arm off the table. He reached across and his fingertips touched her arm. "Li… na."

"S-Stop it…" Lina slapped his hand weakly away. She was crying over her lost love, couldn't this boy see that? Just as she slapped his hand away, a loud grunt escaped out of Gourry's lips and his chest moved inwards. Her mouth dropped and her eyes wide with large anticipation. Coughing out clear liquid from his mouth, Gourry twisted under the straps and groaned for freedom. Lina didn't waste time; she released the straps and unplugged the wires from his body. She caught him from getting off the table.

"Gourry!" Gourry continued to keep coughing out the clear liquid but Lina didn't care. She held him in her arms and happily expressed her tears. "G-Gourry!" All she could say was his name. Her Gourry was alive! And of course he was alive, Gourry is a fighter! He is the best man ever and he is her true love!

"I-I can't believe it!" Lina let him go so she can look at his face. Even though he was looking elsewhere and not at her, Lina couldn't contain her happiness. She delivered the most passionate and expressing kiss on his lips, which immediately stunned him. His body flinched at the moment of their lips touching but almost instantly, he kissed her back and it was completely different. This kiss from him was not gentle or loving. It wasn't thoughtful or full of the impact that Gourry would kiss her with. Even the movement of his lips felt wrong. Still, Lina kissed those different lips and moaned when his tongue shoved its way into her mouth. Gourry never shoved his way in before. He was always asking permission but Lina allowed him too. It was when he reached around and grabbed her bottom did Lina pulled off his lips.

"T-That's embarrassing." She shyly told him through her giggle and Gourry just smirked. Lina grabbed his hand and away from her ass. "That's for later, you know that, Gourry."

"I know that." He responded but placed his hand back there again. Lina kept giggling. She shook her head and got off his body.

"Alright," Lina climbed out of the bed. "We need to get out of here before any of those Outlaw Four robots find us." Like a good patient, Gourry followed her off the bed and Lina looked him over immediately.

"How are you able to stand?" She stared at the open sores that the wires made on his body. "They really tortured you, didn't they?"

"It didn't hurt." He shrugged his shoulders and walked past her, straight to the door that Lina came from.

"Um, okay." She followed him but stopped in remembrance of Sylphiel. "Gourry, we can't forget Sylphiel-"

"She's dead." Gourry was suddenly blocking her view of Sylphiel. "Forget her." He said intensely. Lina looked from his stern expression to Sylphiel's unmoving body. She could've sworn that Sylphiel was calling her. Or maybe, Lina's eyes weakened, her mind was playing with her and made her believe that Sylphiel was alive.

"Well," Lina turned around to look at the young boy who was still reaching out to her. "We need to take that kid. He's still alive-"

"That's Hell-Master." Gourry informed her. Lina's eyes doubled in size.

"That's Hell-Master?" She was dumbfounded. "What the hell happened to him?"

"He tried to take my body." Lina looked back at Gourry when he took her hand in his. "But the thought of you kept me living." He whispered and kissed the back of her hand lovingly. Lina's heart skipped a beat at his sudden affection. Bothered by his strong love, Lina was easily swept away from the idea of bringing Hell-Master with them and walked down the tower with Gourry.


	27. Chapter 27 Nothing but Liability

Chapter 27 - Nothing but Liability

Lina watched Gourry from the bed. He was sitting at the edge of the bed with his head moving back and forth, side to side, like he was adjusting his head correctly. She didn't slap him once and that was very confusing to her. Not once did he make an idiotic comment or ask a redundant question during their time together. With her right cheek pressed against her palm, Lina kept watching him closely even when he stood up and walk around the bed frame. He entered the space next to her and raised both eyebrows from the notice of her strong stare.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." It's the Lithium, she quickly realized. With so much Lithium pumping into his veins, it was obvious that there were going to be minor side effects. It probably made him smarter. Well, Lina giggled when he kissed her on her temple, it wouldn't hurt to make him a tad smarter than before.

"For a second there," He spoke into her ear. "I thought you were regretting about me."

"Of course not." Instantly wrapping both arms around his thick neck, Lina looked up at him with hurt eyes. "The only thing I regret is…" She began but couldn't finish. Staring at each other intently now, Lina chewed on her bottom lip until Gourry kissed her lightly next to her mouth.

"I already told you, I forgive you."

"Really?" Lina asked for maybe the hundredth time. His chest moved as he chuckled against her cheek and he nodded. Lina smiled. She whispered her deep affection and exchanged a deep kiss on the lips. They only separated when they heard the front door slam in the cabin they were borrowing. Gourry remained lying on the bed while Lina pulled herself out of the bed.

"It was nothing." Gourry held onto her hand but she slipped out.

"That's never the case with me." Lina pulled on her layers and grabbed her revolver. Equipped with her weapon, she left the bedside and moved to the room door. Gourry just shrugged his shoulders and folded his arms under his head, watching with amusement as Lina peeked out the room through a crack. Positioning her revolver near her head and seeing nothing outside of the room, she quickly slipped out of the room and into the cabin's living room. Lina kept her weapon close to her face, checking every nook and cranny in the cabin. After checking the partly open front door, Lina admitted her overreaction and reminded herself that the war with robots is over. Gourry won over Hell-Master Philbrizo. Even if the remaining robots revolted, there was only one Lithium mine open and Lina planned to destroy it the second she gets to Saillune. Just as she locked the front door, Lina turned around to walk back to the room and was confronted by the calm intruder.

"How is Gourry-San?" Xellos was sitting on the comfortable couch in the middle of the room. His legs crossed and a cup of hot tea on his lap as if he was waiting to be discovered for a while. Lina sighed; she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her body partly to the side.

"He's perfectly fine."

"Good." He smiled and took a quick sip of his drink. "Quite amazing that he was able to resist Hell-Master's control."

"Gourry is an amazing guy." She then looked around the room for another body. "Is Val with you?"

"Do not worry about Val-Kun." He swirled his tea with a spoonful of honey. "He will appear when he is needed." Tapping the spoon against the rim of the cup, he gasped lightly and looked up at Lina. "And that reminds me, please don't disclose to Filia-San about her son's resurrection. Val-Kun would prefer his mother not knowing that he has been brought back from the dead."

"Is that considered fair?"

"Depends on how a mother would look at it." He shrugged his shoulder while lifting his cup. "Would you rather see your dead son fulfilling tedious tasks under a feared robot or know that he is safely watching over you in heaven?" Xellos asked before tasting the sweetened tea. Lina sighed and nodded in silent agreement.

"Did you kill Riksfalto?" She suddenly asked quite straightforward like.

"I was built to kill everything lesser than the Outlaw Four, including their personal associates." Xellos chuckled lowly. Lina just rolled her eyes. After a few more sips, he placed his cup down on the table and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lina immediately asked when Xellos started walking towards the bedroom.

"I must say hello-"

"NO, NO, NO, NO." The redhead instantly rushed over and separated Xellos from the room door. She shuffled them to the other side of the cabin and pulled him into a personal conversation. "I didn't apologize to him for you, yet."

"That's perfect. I get to apologize to him and explain my atrocious behavior towards his soon-to-be wife." The mention of 'wife' brought a tinge of red over Lina's cheeks but she continued to hold him back.

"Look, I don't think he wants to see you. He's… not himself."

"I thought you told me that he's perfectly fine?" Xellos raised a curious eyebrow.

"Well… he is but-"

"Then I'm going to see him." He turned away and began to walk over. Lina let out an aggravating snarl and ambushed his back, bringing both of their bodies down to the hardwood floor.

"I TOLD YOU," She had him in a backwards headlock with her body sitting square on his back. "YOU ARE NOT SEEING HIM."

"I must apologize though-"

"I'LL DELIVER THE MESSAGE, YOU QUACK!" But what Lina didn't know was that Gourry had been watching from the start of the fight. Certainly, the message had been delivered. When Lina did notice him, she still had Xellos in the wrestling lock and as if he was a disease, Lina quickly unhanded him.

"Gourry!" She got off Xellos's body and straight to his side. "Um, I was just… Y-You know… THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN ME AND THAT GUY!"

"It's okay." Gourry laughed at her sudden outburst and settled her waving arms down. "It's okay."

"Really?" She gulped and Gourry nodded. They turned their heads when Xellos started to laugh a loud as he sat comfortably on the ground with his legs crossed.

"It's like what Lina-San said," The Namagomi smiled. "You are truly an amazing guy, Gourry-San."

"I would have to say the same about you too, Xellos." Gourry smiled back and stepped away from the door while Xellos got off the floor. When Xellos set both feet flat on the hardwood, he was instantly surprised to see smiling Gourry in front of him. They stared at each other in silence until Gourry made the first move; he placed his heavy hand on Xellos's thin shoulder. "Thank you for keeping Lina safe."

"My objective was to eliminate her human psyche and mold her into an inconsequential life form; however seeing as you eradicated the instigator of the Outlaw Four, my task to build Lina Inverse into the ideal robot is null and void." Xellos bowed his head slightly forward so he can whisper the next line. "To be frank, I should show great gratitude towards you for the assassination of Hell-Master. It is a complicated manner to influence Lina into anything. I wager the past 20 years in the company of the Bandit Killer proved great experience?"

"Finest 20 years of my existence." Gourry chuckled and Xellos joined him. The sound of Gourry's stomach growling finished their cheerful conversation and he kindly excused himself to go into the kitchen.

"Wow, Xellos," Lina came over with a big smile except Xellos was busy watching Gourry walk away. "I am thoroughly impressed. I was worried that you were going to say something stupid-"

"How long have you known Gourry-San?" He asked abruptly with his eyes focused on the back of Gourry's head.

"Um…" Lina raised her fingers and mentally counted to herself. "Since we started hunting in Zephilia together so that makes it… 9 years."

"That's funny." Once Gourry was out of sight, Xellos looked back at Lina with a smile. "He just told me that you two were together for 20 years."

"20 years?" She scoffed. "Gourry wandered into Zephilia when I was 15, he knows that."

"Precisely." Xellos quoted and remain watching Lina's face. The smile of her face slowly faded away as a sudden thought emerged but she quickly shook it out.

"You must have heard it wrong-"

"I didn't." He hummed and stopped Lina from shoving past him to get out of his intense stare. Xellos held her arm tightly, preventing her from moving away. "You know I didn't."

"It's the side effects of the Lithium." Lina defended. "And besides, Gourry always had a difficult time remembering specific events."

"So, the side-effects of the Lithium are making him articulate his words and comprehend difficult vocabulary?" He pulled Lina slightly closer. "Would you believe me if I told you that he knew what 'inconsequential' meant?"

"That would be a miracle." She whispered out.

"Exactly." Finally releasing Lina's arm, Xellos reached for his cane on the ground and fixed his jacket on.

"I still don't believe you." Lina muttered when he placed his black top hat on his head. "The Lithium-"

"Lithium does nothing to your knowledge, except obliteration." He tapped the bottom of his cane against the hardwood. "Deep-Sea forced Lithium into Gourry-San's blood stream to erase any brain activity, any memories, and any significant human emotion for Hell-Master to overpower his mind and body effortlessly." Stepping closer to Lina so their faces were just inches away, Xellos peered at her bothered expression with his sly smile and devious eyes.

"Are you positive you picked up the right Gourry-San?"

"Of… Of course, I did." She hesitated at first but quickly told him in a secure way.

"His lover would know, right?" He said with a chuckle and walked past her.

"An abundant of time has been wasted on this silly war." Xellos arrived at the front door and tipped his hat to Lina in parting. "Fulfill your deepest desires at this silent hour for it is not over yet."

"Hell-Master is dead, Xellos." Lina barked. "The Outlaw Four is done. And this war is over."

"Whatever you say, my dear Lina-San." So left the Namagomi and leaving the redhead to ponder. Lina sat her body on the lonely furniture. Her elbows bent and placed on her thighs, Lina held her hands crossed under her chin as she deliberated. Why would Xellos purposely disagree with her? How would he know what Lithium does or does not? They were discovering new things in relation to Lithium everyday so he wouldn't know, would he?

"He doesn't know what he is talking about." Lina snorted. Of course that's Gourry. He looks like Gourry. Talks like Gourry. And he even has sex like Gourry.

"Except…" She approached a conflict suddenly. Except his gentleness has disappeared, and his silly smile. Where was his smile? Just when Lina was at variance with herself; a pair of hands came from behind and covered her red eyes.

"Who is it?" Gourry sang childishly. It brought a big smile on Lina's face. They laughed together as Gourry removed his hands and jumped next to Lina. "Where is Xellos?" He asked as soon as he took a quick look.

"He left." Lina leaned her body into his side and sighed happily in his arm. "The guy is not exactly a joy to be around."

"Fine by me." He rubbed the end of his chin against the top of her head. "I'd rather be alone with you." Lina blushed deeply and looked up at him, about to say something until she heard loud knocking on the cabin's front door.

"That must be the others." Lina groaned with slight aggravation. "They're early." She was ready to leave the couch until Gourry pushed her back down.

"You've been doing all the work. Let me do it."

"Oh… Okay." Lina nodded and followed him with her eyes. He didn't even reach the front door when it was abruptly kicked open and revealed Pokota holding his reliable tomahawks in his hand. He opened his mouth to let out a shout but saw Gourry instead and immediately froze.

"Gourry?" Pokota called his name in such astonishment but that didn't block the big grin that formed on his face. He ditched his sharp weapons to hug the big body around his waist. Gourry shared the appreciation back, aggressively scratching Pokota's magenta hair like a big brother would. "You're back!"

"I got him back from the west." Lina stood up from the couch and joined their side. The young robot smiled wider and removed from Gourry.

"I can't believe that you two were here all along! We were looking for you in the north!" He expressed loudly and saw that Lina was looking through the front door, obviously searching for others. "After surveying the north, Filia and Milgazia wanted me to run ahead to the cabin for any provisions. They should be here by nightfall."

"Excellent." The redhead reached over and patted his shoulder. "You look like you experienced a lot while I was gone."

"Milgazia is a good teacher." Pokota shrugged.

"And I bet having a mother is good too."

"S-Stop it." A blush immediately overwhelmed his face. "Filia is not my mom. You are more like my mom."

"I'm too young to be your mom, you brat." Still in her good mood, Lina lightly pinched his cheek.

"That explains your flat chest."

"YOU FUCKING BRAT! I SHOULD KILL YOU!" She yanked his stretchy cheek at least a foot back and pounded her other fist into his gut. Gourry just watched with a big smile. As the three recollected, they didn't see Xellos looking in through the cabin's window. His eyes stuck on Gourry. Eventually, he left the window and jumped to the roof.

"Did you hear?" Xellos asked with a smirk. "The war is over."

"How is the war over when none of the Outlaws are dead?" Val rolled his eyes. He had his arms crossed and stood next to Luna, who was lying at the highest point on the roof. Her legs crossed elegantly and arms folded under her head, she was watching the perfect blue sky through her heavy bangs. She chuckled softly as Xellos walked to her other side.

"Let her dumbass believe it." Luna smirked.

"You only wish the worst for your sister, don't you, Luna-San?" Xellos sat down, positioning his cane between his legs.

"I agreed to work under your master because she promised entertainment." The maroon-haired woman sighed. "She has not fulfilled her promise yet and watching my sister being a moron is fun to me." Xellos chuckled at her comment and moved his attention to the teen.

"From your swift return, I am convinced that you found the Supreme King?"

"He plunged his body in the deep freezing sea in the north." Val muttered. "The temperature would slowly regenerate the remaining Lithium in his body and he will return. But for now, he is just a head on a limbless body."

"And Deep Sea?"

"She is no where to be seen." Luna chimed in.

"Oh?" Xellos raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a problem."

"Not really." She continued to be calm and relax. "I will deal with her when I see her."

"You went against Greater Beast Master when you sided with Milgazia, Luna-San. What makes you think she can trust you with this important mission?"

"Unlike my thick-headed comrade who believes in my dim-witted sister and a particular sly bastard who will remain nameless," Her bangs slightly moved to the side so she can allow him to see her dark red eyes. "Beast Master is familiar with my polished record."

"Is that why she brought you back?" Val asked and Luna smirked.

"That's only half the reason." She looked back at the blue sky. Xellos and Val exchanged glances before turning their heads simultaneously at the sound of fast feet beating against the ground. Rushing through the dense woods were two large tigers with vibrant silver stripes; one with a blue coat while the other was pink. Fasten on the backs of these running animal were two bodies wearing the same type of clothing and armor like Pokota, except they had full body coverage from head to toe. The predatory animals leaped out and paced in front of the cabin, their whispers low on the ground and heavy paws made deep crevices in the dirt.

"Who could this be now?" Xellos watched with his face poking out like a child would from the edge of the rooftop. Val merely sat low to avoid detection while Luna kept watching the sky. The smaller of the two bodies slipped off the pink tiger and settled the animal down while the other stayed put. Pulling off the full head gear revealed Zelgadiss sitting on the back of the blue tiger.

"Oh, it's Zelgadiss-San." Xellos remarked. "And he certainly looks different, must have gotten a hold of Sherra-San's sword." He snickered at the rocky dull silver patches that were present on his face. Xellos turned his head when he realized that he was no longer the only one interested, next to him was Val and he had full eyes on the other person with a very distinct curvy body figure. When the mask was slipped off, he instantly released a soft noise from behind his throat. Amelia looked more amazing with the colorful native designs on her face, and the attached bird feathers in her hair just made her more natural and down to earth. Val groaned lightly and bumped his head against the sharp edge of the rooftop. Why did she have to be so pretty?

"They don't have horses in Taforashia?" Lina's pitchy voice came from the doorway and the two males shrank their heads into hiding. Amelia gasped aloud and turned around while Zelgadiss smirked.

"Lina-San!" Amelia instantly screamed out and raced past the second tiger into Lina's arms. "And Pokota-San is here too!" Val and Xellos heard loud squeaking indicating that Amelia was hugging Pokota's body now. Then there was silence.

"Oh…" Amelia spotted Gourry behind the two and took a few steps back. Behind her, Zelgadiss was calming his ride down and had climbed off. He heard Amelia's sudden hush and looked over. His smirk immediately vanished.

"Hey, Zel!" Lina remained clueless about the two men's previous feud and waved her arm. "I like the new look. Is that a tattoo around your neck?"

"It's good to see you, Lina. You too, Pokota." Zelgadiss motioned but looked back at Gourry again. They kept staring at each other until Amelia broke the silence with a nervous giggle.

"We have so much to tell you! A lot has been going on in Taforashia!" She shuffled the three back into the cabin and looked back at Zelgadiss, silently telling him to join them and he did. Inside the cabin, they were pleasantly joined by Xellos's sudden appearance and almost instantly, Amelia ran over for a quick hug for she did not know that he was still alive. As they all gathered around the dining table, it was soon covered with a hand drawn map by Zelgadiss of the entire eastern region with Saillune as a major factor.

"We are here." Zelgadiss informed the others, he pointed in the middle of the solid block of forest surrounding Saillune's northern entrance. Then, he moved his finger at the several drawn crosses all over the map. "And these are the entrances to the cave."

"I thought there was only one." Lina curled her eyebrows.

"That was what we thought too but after close examination, we discovered that there were four total pathways." Amelia pulled out a red marker from her shoulder pouch and scratched over the black crosses gently. "We were able to close the rear, the left, and the right entrance but we ran out of explosives to close this one-"

"Wait, we're CLOSING the site?" Pokota suddenly asked aloud. Everyone lifted their heads and looked at his sudden crossed expression. It looked like nobody had told him the entire plan.

"Pokota-San," Amelia spoke softly. "Zelgadiss and I stayed behind because we had to prevent another robot catastrophe." She hesitantly moved several bangs out of her view and looked at Lina. Pokota looked at Lina too and Lina sighed.

"Look, Pokota." She started. "We need to get rid of the Lithium mine. If another group of robots arises, they will get to the Lithium and we can't have another war." Lina saw that Pokota was not meeting her eyes or trying too. He was looking straight at his fingers.

"What about Xellos, Zel, and Amelia? Don't they need Lithium?" He asked with his eyes still lowered.

"Our bodies fused with the tungsten but we only needed the Lithium to stabilize its growth." Zelgadiss rolled his long sleeves up and revealed the same dull silver patches running against his skin while Amelia took off her gloves and showed off her nicely smoothed silver knuckles.

"But if we do need Lithium in the future and the cave remain closed," Amelia moved towards Zelgadiss and leaned on his side. "Zelgadiss and I won't have any regrets. Right?" She asked with a big innocent smile that Zelgadiss had to blush.

"I am a Cyborg built with mechanical human parts." Xellos was the only one sitting on a dining chair and drinking tea. "I don't need Lithium to be alive. I just need it to resurrect myself." He shrugged his shoulder slightly. "You could say that I'm not exactly alive."

"And Milgazia?" Pokota quickly asked. He looked around at the others. "What about Milgazia?" He was obviously trying to find another reason to keep the cave open for himself.

"Milgazia's body is rotting away as we speak." Xellos snorted after sipping his tea. "His body won't last the rest of this week."

"It's only you, Pokota." Lina grabbed his slim shoulder and forced him towards her. "You are the only one amongst us who needs Lithium to live." She looked over his tiny body and sighed. "Chief Taforashia created you small for a reason. He wanted the Lithium to last and it will last."

"For how long?" Pokota questioned and Lina bit her lower lip. She had no idea.

"When you see used Lithium floating in your blood," Xellos bluntly said. "That is when you need to recharge those old batteries." A wide smile spread across his face and Pokota turned toward the open bedroom.

"Oh, Pokota, come back!" Lina called after him but he had already slammed the bedroom door behind him. She and the others let out a simultaneous sigh and turned their upset looks at Xellos, who was calmly drinking his tea.

"It's the truth." He simply said.

"And he is just a kid." Lina slammed her fist on the table, making it jump. "He is clearly frightened about death. Especially since he is a robot-"

"Everyone in this room treats him like a human but nobody sees him like one." Xellos placed his half-full cup down with a loud noise. "I see a robot with Lithium running through his mechanical body and treat him how a robot should be treated, straight to the facts and nothing in between."

"We treat him like a human because Chief Taforashia made him to replace his dead son."

"And now, the old man is dead." Xellos informed.

"Because you murdered him, remember?" Lina growled across the table.

"I'm a killer, only because I was built to kill, but I never murdered anybody in my life without a reason."

"You are such a liar." The redhead scoffed. "You murdered that old man-"

"The old man died from a heart attack before I got a chance to touch him." Xellos stood up from the chair. He grabbed his cane and stopped next to Lina to switch glares. "I am a killer, not a liar like the rest of you."

"Since, lying to someone is worse than killing an innocent life, right?" Lina sarcastically remarked.

"With a killer, the person is dead. With a liar, the lie is forever until the killer kills it." He smirked while she scowled at him. Xellos swapped glances with everyone around the table and when he got to Gourry last, he just released a soft chuckle and shook his head.

"What a fucking bastard." Lina snarled when Xellos left the cabin. She kicked the dining table's leg, causing it to break. "Can you believe that guy? I just want to kill him! Dammit, I can't wait until he fucking dies for real!"

"He's right, though." Zelgadiss suddenly spoke. Lina and Amelia looked at him instantly. "If we had treated Pokota as a robot, he would have expected this outcome and we wouldn't be in this standstill."

"But he would've still resisted. Without Lithium, Pokota-San will die off with the other robots and will do anything to stop us."

"That is if he was still frightened of death."

"How would you know that?" Lina glared at him now. "How would you know that he wouldn't fight back?" Zelgadiss snorted and snaked an arm around Amelia's body, pulling her closer to his side which got her to blush.

"I know because I stopped listening to my lies and got her." From the other side of the door, Pokota had his back pressed against the wooden walls with his hands covering his head. He couldn't stop shaking and stop thinking about the darkness. When he had his first conversation with Milgazia on the roof several days ago, Milgazia told him that he simply needed to believe that there was something after this. That there was some place for him if he just believed. But how? How can just believing land him into a place of tranquility and harmony? He's not even a man to start! He's a robot! A mechanical being powered by a rare substance that is giving him his own thoughts and emotions! It's obvious that he wasn't going where all the humans were going, good or bad. He was going somewhere else where soulless beings would go. Into the cold, blank, crevice of darkness and nothingness and that was what he believed. When he dies, there will be darkness and nothingness. Nothing will happen and he will be enveloped in the darkness with nobody for all eternity. He will be all alone because he is all alone.

* * *

"Thank you for the recipe, Lina-San. And I promise not to share it with Zelgadiss."

"That gunpowder recipe is a family secret. You better keep it tucked in between your giant breasts." Lina grabbed Amelia's top collar and stretched it enough to stuff her hand inside. Immediately letting out a high-pitch squeal from the sudden move, Amelia waved her arms wildly as Lina shoved her hand in her cleavage.

"What the HELL are you doing?" Zelgadiss growled lowly behind her. He grabbed Lina from her ponytail and yanked her off. "Pervert."

"OH, YEAH? I SEE…" Lina paused to look over his face and saw no sign of dripping blood from his nose or any bright redness. She gasped at the realization and pointed at the two. "WHY HAVEN'T I NOTICED THIS BEFORE? YOU GUYS HAD SEX! L-SAMA, YOU GUYS FINALLY HAD SEX! NO PREFIX! NO PREFIX FOR ZELGADISS-SAN!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANNOUNCE IT, LINA-SAN!" Amelia shouted with a bright red face and her arms waving while Zelgadiss just blushed, his arms folded over his chest.

"Is it really that shocking that we- HEY! I WAS TALKING TO YOU!" Zelgadiss shouted when Lina suddenly grabbed Amelia and pulled her away. He watched from where he stood as the two girls whispered to one another and when they both looked back at him with a certain expression, Zelgadiss knew exactly what they were talking about. "I'M RIGHT HERE, YOU KNOW!"

"I just wanted a woman's perspective." Lina chuckled as she walked over with a blushing Amelia. Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow when Lina took a hard look at him and gave a sly smile. "So, you have an underwear fetish, huh?"

"YOU – WHAT – HOW – AMELIA!" He stuttered with the biggest blush ever sending both Lina and Amelia to laugh. After another tight embrace, Lina watched her two close friends climb onto the backs of their animals.

"I'll brew a batch and get the cave laced completely with it by tonight." Amelia smiled with her hand patting her chest, indicating the gunpowder recipe. Patting the back of Amelia's hand gently, Lina looked over when Zelgadiss let out a loud snort.

"Do me a favor." He spoke in a whisper. "Tell Gourry…" Zelgadiss paused to lower his eyes slightly. "Tell him, I didn't mean any of it."

"Oh, Zelgadiss…" Amelia awed happily, making him pout in embarrassment.

"Um, alright?" Lina was still clueless and so nodded to pass his message along.

"We'll meet you tomorrow morning." Slightly humiliated, Zelgadiss shuffled his animal away without looking back at Lina while his companion followed quickly behind, calling out to him like a child. Chuckling to herself, Lina shook her head. Those two are the oddest couple, yet.

"Oh wait, there's Zangulas and that gypsy wench." She commented just before returning to the cabin. Just as she was entering, Lina saw Gourry stepping out of the bedroom.

"He let you in?" Lina was shocked that Pokota allowed Gourry to enter. The robot was denying everyone access.

"I had something of value to offer the boy; my advice." He smugly said with an arrogant smile that got Lina to twitch.

"How conceited of you."

"He let me in, didn't he?" Gourry grabbed Lina's chin in his palm and pulled her against his stiff body, she straightened at his sudden action. "You look good enough to kill." His smile was unmoving.

"Gourry?" Slightly disturbed from his comment, Lina withdrew but Gourry held onto her chin.

"That's right. I'm Gourry." He whispered and kissed her on her mouth, completely shifting her mood. Tongue licking up and down her mouth and around the walls, Lina had to hold her trembling body by grabbing onto his strong shoulders from the intensity of the kiss. It was hard, wet, and exhilarating. But when their lips parted, Gourry shoved Lina off and stepped out of the cabin without saying another word. He left Lina dazed and with legs wobbling from his deep kiss that she had to sit down on the furniture to calm her fast heart. She held her throbbing head while easing her heart. What the hell just happened?

* * *

Pokota wasn't the only one anymore. He felt the same way too. Running violently through the thick trees and jumping past the rigged obstacles in his way, Pokota was desperately running away from the cabin. He had left his weapons and belongings without a thought for he was in a hurry. Within seconds, he made it to his destination and stood frozen. Although in a hurry, he was anxious too.

"So, you came." Spinning his body at the sound of the new voice, Pokota breathed easy when Gourry emerged out of the bushes. He went to the robot's side and smirked. "Aren't you going in?"

"Well…" Pokota hesitated and looked down to his feet. After a few seconds of silence, Gourry moved to his knees so he was eye-to-eye with him.

"I'm scared too, Pokota." He admitted with a hand on the young robot's shoulder. "I don't know what is after this life but I have lots of time left to recollect my thoughts correctly. You, on the other hand, need the Lithium to keep living and you don't have much time left."

"I'll help you take only a little bit of Lithium." A gentle smile spread across Gourry's face that reminded Pokota a lot of his creator's smile. "Just a little bit so you can keep living until you feel comfortable about death. Okay?"

"And you promise not to tell anybody?" Pokota was still nervous and hesitant about the entire idea.

"I promise not to tell anybody-"

"Even Lina?" He immediately mentioned and that made Gourry chuckle. Gourry nodded and gave the side of Pokota's cheek a tender pat with his hand. Reassured with the help of his friend, Pokota took a deep breath and faced the entrance of the Lithium mine. The entrance of the mine was located on the side of a low hill but was blocked with a single large stone. Pokota stepped to the stone and laid his tiny hand against it. As if his hand was a key, the slab moved on its own and rolled on its side to open the entrance of the hidden underground cave.

"It's a doorway fueled by the Lithium crystals inside." He was gloating now. "Pops made this entrance so only him and myself can get inside. It's an impenetrable doorway that will only open for the right code."

"Impressive." Gourry looked down at the dark tunnel from the entrance next to Pokota. "The correct code, huh?" He raised a curious eyebrow with a smirk, however Pokota didn't hear the slight wickedness expressed in his voice.

"Come on, Gourry." Pokota grabbed Gourry's hand and pulled him into the darkness. "We got to hurry before Lina comes looking for us." Together with the large man behind him, Pokota carelessly left the entrance to the mine unlocked for anybody to walk in.

* * *

Waiting long enough for Gourry's return, Lina decided to do her own search for the missing man in the thick woods. She called out for him repeatedly until her throat began to hurt.

"Where else would he go?" Lina asked a loud in frustration as she made her way back to the cabin. Saillune is simply swept off the map so he wouldn't go there. The closest town would be Taforashia but there was the traitorous desert that he had to go through and it would take a week on foot to get there. No, there is only the cabin. That is the only place he can take refuge.

"He must be hunting for more food." She worriedly looked around her surroundings for any evidence of hunting but saw none. That was when she finally noticed that the forest held no wandering animals. Where were all the animals? It was soon-to-be nightfall so the animals should be running about going into their shelters for the night. It was completely empty and silent. Slightly frightened of the ongoing silence, Lina continued her torturous walk alone to the cabin. Torturous since her head was filled with constant worry for her lover. When she made it to the cabin though, Lina gasped at the sight of the front door. It was open ajar and judging from the light shining through the crack, there was someone inside.

"Gourry!" Picking up the pace of her feet, Lina stormed into the cabin with a big smile but was instantly disappointed to see the end of a shotgun barrel pointed between her eyes. The person holding the weapon had no dark disguise to cover her body for she wore the same clothes that she had on when she was kidnapped. It was Sylphiel.

"Sy…" Lina stopped herself from talking. Lying on the long furniture behind Sylphiel, was the young boy that was gasping Lina's name; Hell-Master. Sylphiel's brightly shining eyes remained on Lina's shocked expression while holding the shotgun at her face. She was determined to keep Lina at her sight. Lina glanced between Hell-Master and Sylphiel.

"What… What the hell is going on here?" She managed to ask through the thickness that her throat was creating. Lina motioned to move but Sylphiel stopped her by nudging her weapon closer to her nose.

"Don't move," Sylphiel's voice trembled. It was obvious that she was opposed to having her weapon pointed at the Bandit Killer but was forced too. Then she insulted Lina with an absurd name. "Traitor."

"Traitor?" Lina's teeth grinded against each other in fury, "How DARE you call me TRAITOR." Not caring that there is a weapon in front of her face, Lina lifted her arm and pointed at the heavily breathing young boy on the couch. "YOU ARE WORKING FOR THAT ROBOT!"

"He is NOT a robot!" Sylphiel argued but Lina wouldn't hear it.

"I BET THE ROBOTS PAID YOU TO COME TO SAILLUNE AND TAKE GOURRY AWAY FROM ME! AND I BET YOU WERE GLAD TO DO THEIR DEED!" She glared immensely at Sylphiel. "YOU WERE ALWAYS TRYING TO TAKE GOURRY AWAY FROM ME! ALWAYS JEALOUS THAT GOURRY FOUND ME MORE APPEALING THAN YOU!" Sylphiel's eyes widen at her sudden offense.

"ADMIT THAT YOU WANT GOURRY FOR YOURSELF! YOU WERE ALWAYS IN LOVE WITH GOURRY!" Lina shoved her weapon away with ease and swiftly took her own revolver from her hip. "WELL, YOU CAN'T HAVE GOURRY! GOURRY IS MINE AND HE'LL NEVER BE YOURS!" In a sudden tug of her finger, the bullet was unleashed out of the revolver's chamber and flew straight to Sylphiel. Within millimeters from touching her skin, a hand reached out and caught the bullet in its grasp.

"You really are stupid." Shattering the hot bullet into several pieces before letting it fall to the ground, the curvy woman positioned herself between the mortal rivals. She looked at her younger sibling with blazing similar ruby eyes. "You will regret making that shot for the rest of your fucking life."

"L-Luna…" Lina gasped out. Her older sister stood in front of her. She had not seen her sister since she left Zephilia and there was good reason why. Luna towered over her in height, womanly curves, power, and intelligence. Her sister was basically a better version of herself, ten folds. And Lina was absolutely terrified of her.

"Are you alright, girl?" Luna asked Sylphiel without taking her eyes off her sister.

"I-I'm… alright." Sylphiel lied with heavy tears running down her face. She covered her mouth with both hands to keep her sobbing under control. Luna scoffed loudly and crossed her arms over her heavy chest, making Lina gulp.

"I'm going straight to the point," Luna refused to make small talk with idiots. "You rescued the wrong body."

"Don't tell me that you actually believe that Hell-Master is in Gourry's body and," Lina glanced shortly at the now-wheezing boy. "Gourry is in that pathetic body?" Luna didn't say anything for Lina knew that answer. Growling aggressively, Lina shook her head and pointed rudely at the boy.

"THAT IS NOT GOURRY!"

"That is Gourry." Opposite to Lina's fiery outburst, Luna kept calm and unmoving.

"NO, HE IS NOT!" Lina screamed. "GOURRY WON OVER HELL-MASTER! HE DEFEATED HIM! HE-"

"He lost." Luna interrupted. "And he lost dearly. If he does not go back to his own body, Gourry will die."

"G-GOURRY IS NOT GOING TO DIE BECAUSE THAT'S NOT GOURRY!" She kept screaming and pointing. "THAT IS HELL-MASTER AND IF YOU WON'T KILL HIM, I WILL-"

"I will decapitate your fucking head before you get that chance." Luna threatened when Lina lifted her weapon. She already had her chain link weapon stationed in her hand, the scythe flashed with dried blood at the blade. Lina stared at the deadly weapon and back at her sister's face. She noticed that Luna was not glaring at her like she would normally do. Her sister was just looking at her and in the weirdest way; Lina thought she saw remorse in her eyes. Although she didn't act it, Lina could definitely see it.

"Put your weapon down." Lina did what she was ordered but kept her finger around the trigger. "If there is any intelligence left in that small cranium of yours, you will listen to me."

"That boy," Luna registered to Hell-Master. "Is Gourry."

"I don't believe you." Lina immediately said.

"Then, tell me," Her older sister moved closer so she was standing inches away from her. "Where is he?" That stumped Lina.

"You don't know, do you?" Luna smirked when Lina said nothing.

"I bet he's with Pokota-San." Xellos spoke at the dining table with his legs crossed. Lina glared at the sudden sight of him.

"Pokota is in the room-"

"He's not here." Val suddenly stepped out of the cabin bedroom. More and more people were appearing out of nowhere to argue against her.

"Then…" Lina cringed. "Then I don't know where they are, alright?" She admitted forcefully. "Is that what you guys what to hear from me? I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE."

"You know where they are." Xellos joined Luna's side. He smiled playfully. "You know EXACTLY where."

"HOW WOULD I KNOW WHERE THEY WENT? THEY DIDN'T TELL ME ANY-"

"Isn't the Lithium mines half a mile from here?" Luna hinted and stunned Lina to silence. She looked at the three new faces in the cabin, then at Sylphiel's sobbing expression. Sylphiel kept her face down, her hands still clenched over her mouth and her eyes burning with tears. Finally, Lina looked at the boy on the couch. He was looking at Lina with kind eyes. Then, he opened his tightly clenched fist that was on his heaving chest. It was her engagement ring. Lina knew in that instant that she had made a terrible mistake and just like Luna said, she started to regret.

* * *

They were almost to the end of the tunnel where there was another stone slab to move when Pokota heard someone behind him. He turned to see someone he never saw before. The beautiful woman in the dress smiled at him. Although her smile was flawless and pretty, Pokota was looking at the double-headed spear that she was carrying on her side. Stepping away from the stranger slowly, Pokota bumped his back accidentally at a sudden solid form and realized that it was Gourry.

"Gourry." He turned around and faced him. "Who is she?" Gourry didn't answer back. Instead, he was looking at Pokota with an unreadable smile. The young robot glanced between Gourry and the strange woman. None of them were saying a thing but were just staring at him.

"Gourry?" Pokota moved all attention on his friend. "This isn't a joke, anymore. What's going on?" Putting more strength in his wispy voice, Pokota tighten his hands into fists. "Answer me, Gourry!"

"How dare you speak towards him that way," The woman angrily growled and lifted her long weapon away from the ground. "Prepare to die." She slowly moved to swing at Pokota's small throat but Gourry's sudden move between their bodies stopped her abruptly.

"Calm yourself, Dolphin." It wasn't his normal voice. He sounded darker, lower, and somewhat colder when he was talking to her. Hiding behind his body from the aggressive woman, Pokota looked up at the tall blonde. The important thing was Gourry was protecting Pokota so he can still consider him as a friend… hopefully. Eventually, Dolphin did lower her blade but kept her intense glare at Pokota. Gourry twisted his body and knelt in front of Pokota, smiling at him like he did at the entrance of the cave.

"I haven't been completely honest with you, Pokota." Gourry chuckled foolishly like he had just been figured out. "I also need the Lithium too."

"You do?" Pokota's eyes slightly widen.

"When Hell-Master tried to take over my body, I was given an immense load of Lithium and I realized that I couldn't live a full life without it." He spoke in such a gentle tone. "So, I apologize. I should have told you that I needed the Lithium too."

"No… It's alright, Gourry." Pokota nodded with a forgiving smile. "I understand. You were just scared, right?"

"Yes." Gourry chuckled again. "I was scared." He noticed Pokota glancing at Dolphin cautiously. "This is my friend, Dolphin. She was held captive in Hell-Master's tower too. Dolphin needs Lithium too." Gourry grabbed a hold of Pokota's shoulder so he can whisper. "Can she have some too?"

"Well," Pokota glanced frequently at Dolphin's fierce expression. She was still upset. "Only a little bit so we can all survive just a little longer, right?"

"Right." Gourry agreed and he looked at Dolphin. She answered with just a nod. Pokota pushed his mouth to the side and nodded too. "Then, lead the way, Pokota."

"Okay." Fueled by his excitement and anxiety, Pokota lead the two adults further down the tunnel until they got to the second and final stone slab. Beyond this gateway were the crystals that were awaiting their arrival. Gourry and Dolphin watched intensely as Pokota raised his open hand. They were now seconds away.

"POKOTA!" Lina screamed from the open entrance of the cave. Pokota gasped loudly and spun around immediately at her voice.

"Lina is here! She found us!" He squeaked. A hooded expression appeared and vanished quickly from Gourry's face, he turned to look at Dolphin. She was already looking at him.

"She is here with three others." Dolphin muttered softly. She didn't have to say it aloud but Gourry knew that it was time to go. Gourry smirked, a soft sigh leaving from his nose.

"Pokota, you want to survive, don't you?" Gourry asked suddenly.

"I don't think this is the right time-" Pokota was shunned silent when Gourry grabbed his shoulder and fixed his fearful eyes on his calm blue orbs.

"You want to live, right?"

"Um… Y-Yeah."

"Then you will do what I say, alright?" Gourry kindly said and Pokota just nodded. As Gourry whispered softly into Pokota's ear, Pokota's eyes widen at everything he said to him. "If you follow my directions closely and perfectly, we will all be in the Lithium caves by tomorrow morning."

"But Gourry," Pokota shook his head. "I-I can't do that! I can't do that to Lina and the others-"

"Yes, you can." Gourry grinned. "I believe in you." If he had a human heart, Pokota's heart would've skipped several beats when Gourry said that. Instead, it brought a shy blush on Pokota's face and he nodded.

"I will see you at midnight." Gourry said as he looked at Dolphin. Dolphin reached into her waist band and took out a clear ball with metallic trinkets tinkling inside. She threw the ball between their bodies and an obnoxious smoke filled the tunnel. Pokota kept his eyes on Gourry's smiling expression until the smoke divided them apart. It wasn't much later when Lina ran through the smoke.

"Pokota!" Lina ran straight to him and grabbed his shoulders. Pokota gasped at the sudden aggression flashing in her eyes. "Where is Hell-Master?"

"Hell-Master?" He was puzzled.

"Where is he, Pokota? Where is Hell-Master?" She was eccentric.

"I-I thought Gourry-"

"DAMMIT, POKOTA!" Lina threw his tiny body against the tunnel walls. She pressed him until he was literally apart of the wall. "WHERE THE HELL IS HELL-MASTER?" She asked aggressively through clenched jaws. Pokota was about to answer but he spotted Xellos and Luna stepping out of the cloud of smoke. They were holding weapons and staring at him.

"I-I…" He was terrified now. "Did I… do something wrong?"

"Where is Gourry?" Luna asked Pokota.

"He left." He said simply. "With Dolphin." Luna smirked at that the mention of the name while Xellos just let out a large sigh.

"Did you tell Gourry how to get to the Lithium?"

"I… I showed him."

"He knows how to get in." Xellos chuckled in a low texture. "The robot showed him willingly."

"You…" Lina's hands got tighter around Pokota's shoulders. Her head was lowered and her eyes stared at the ground. "You fucking dump piece of crap."

"What-"

"THAT WASN'T GOURRY." She looked up to place her angry eyes on him. "THAT WAS HELL-MASTER!"

"Hell-Master is dead!" Pokota snapped back at her. "YOU SAID SO!"

"I WAS WRONG!" She quickly slipped out and Pokota defended himself.

"How should I know that he was Hell-Master? YOU SAID THAT HELL-MASTER WAS DEAD!" He glanced at everyone in front of him. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT-"

"THIS IS COMPLETELY YOUR FAULT!" Frustrated beyond doubt, Lina couldn't stand it any longer. She stepped away from Pokota and paced in front of him with aggravation. Her voice lowered so she can try to keep her composure. "How could you just… How could you just TAKE him here?"

"I didn't know that he was-"

"Even if you didn't know, why the hell were you here in the first place?" Lina asked.

"I…" Pokota hesitated. "I was… scared." His fingers began to fight the edges of his top. "I didn't… didn't want to be alone… I don't want to die-"

"You fucking idiot." It was Luna's turn to scold. "Everything dies in the end. Get used to it." She didn't want to stand around much longer so left hastily. It was Lina and Xellos in the tunnel now. Pokota looked between the two. Lina refused to look at him; she was just pacing around with her eyes on the ground while Xellos watched him with those purple eyes that Pokota didn't like. Finally, Lina stopped moving. She kept her face away and let out an exhausting sigh, her hand was over her eyes like a mask.

"Zelgadiss was right." Lina remarked suddenly. "You are more of a liability than an asset." Pokota's eyes flung wide open. He turned all attention at Lina. She still refused to look at him. Lina snorted a loud and uncovered her face.

"I should have killed you a long time ago." It was a statement that Pokota thought he would never hear from Lina. As if the statement sucked all the strength in him, Pokota fell down to his bottom and hung between his legs. Lina didn't care; she left the tunnel leaving Xellos with him. Watching the robot alone, Xellos sat across from him with his cane leaning against his knee and back against the wall. He didn't leave because he wasn't about to leave Pokota alone with the Lithium. And he didn't say anything because Lina had already said enough.


	28. Chapter 28 Too Many Chips

Chapter 28 - Too Many Chips

They burst through the front door of the cabin however nobody registered to their arrival. It was Amelia and Zelgadiss, behind them was Val. He managed to find them in the outskirts of Saillune, looking for the necessary ingredients for gunpowder. Amelia walked in first but stopped instantly at the gruesome sight of Sylphiel. Sylphiel was beside the closed room door, hugging her folded legs to her chest and her face buried against her knees. Her clothes were dirty and there were open blisters on her skin; where the wires had plugged into her.

"Sylphiel-San…" Amelia rushed to her side. She gathered the weeping woman into her arms and hugged her. Sylphiel cried against Amelia's shoulder, she didn't want to move but after kind persuasion, Amelia picked her off the ground and to the bathroom. Zelgadiss watched as Amelia took the broken woman away for a brief second before glancing at the others. In the darkest corner of the room, there was Pokota. He was in the same position like Sylphiel but he was facing the wall. Xellos was sitting in the middle of the couch, calmly drinking tea in silence and keeping watch of Pokota. Zelgadiss walked across the room and to the bedroom door. He opened it just a little to peek inside. Lying on the bed in the room, there was the young boy that Val was telling him about. That was the body of Hell-Master but it really wasn't him. Gourry's soul was trapped inside.

"He looks horrible." Zelgadiss whispered at the sight of pale skin, bloodshot eyes, and falling hair.

"He's dying." Val muttered from behind him. Zelgadiss moved his eyes onto the person sitting next to the bed with her face planted in her palms. He could see Lina's shoulders shaking and decided to shut the door. Zelgadiss looked back at Val; they stared at each other for an intense moment.

"How did this happen?" He asked a loud so everyone can hear him. "How did Gourry and Hell-Master exchange bodies?"

"There is a machine at the top of Hell-Master's tower." Xellos proceeded to tell him. "It sends out a powerful electronic current that runs through both cadavers and allows the soul of one form to enter the other."

"We need to get that machine-"

"Hell-Master is always two steps ahead of us." He took several sips of his tea. "He would've had that machine destroyed the instant he was transferred into Gourry's body."

"We'll make another one-"

"None of us has the technology or intelligence in creating such a machine." Xellos said. "The only being who can make an identical machine is Dolphin and we won't be able to persuade her."

"Is there anything we can do?" Zelgadiss asked and the two remained quiet. Amelia joined the others now, leaving Sylphiel alone in the bathroom. She went to Zelgadiss's side and hugged his arm, he responded by taking her hand in his. Val watched from nearby; he turned his head before they noticed and stared at the hardwood floors.

* * *

Inside of the bedroom, Gourry had awoken and was engaging in small talk with Lina.

"Then," Lina smiled. "Then, you ate ALL the food, remember?" She was trying to block the painful reality that this could be the last time she and Gourry would speak to one another with happy memories.

"I remember." Gourry released a dry chuckle but was short lived when he began to cough. Lina frowned large. She was talking to the face of a random boy, not the handsome face of her Gourry. Still, she reached over and wiped the blood leaking from his mouth. She saw that the blood was black, instead of red. It was the Lithium. Hell-Master's body was fueled by Lithium; he only had to transfer into a new body because the Lithium was running low on energy to keep up with him. Lina wiped the black blood on her clothes, not allowing Gourry to see.

"Lina?" He called her and Lina looked up with a fake smile. "Do you… remember that deal we made?" He asked softly. Lina tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't know any deal-"

"The deal." Gourry continued. "In that castle… with the girls." Lina tried to think of any castles that she and Gourry had recently been in. "Our last hunt…" He mentioned and Lina finally remembered.

"You mean, Halshifom? The scientist who tried to get his wife back? His castle?"

"Yeah, that one." Gourry smiled when she finally got it. "Do you remember… our deal?"

"Did… Did we make a deal?" Lina obviously knew what he was talking about but didn't want to say it. She took Gourry's hand in hers and out of anxiety; she began to play with their fingertips. She didn't want to talk about that deal they made.

"You remember." Gourry knew exactly what she was trying to do. He stopped her playful fingers and made her engage in the serious conversation. "You have to do it… okay?"

"I-I don't…" Lina shook her head. The tears were starting in her eyes again.

"Please, Lina." He sighed and shakily pulled her hand to his mouth. "You promised." With dry thin lips, he kissed the back on Lina's hand while looking at her with dull eyes. Lina was speechless. Her lips trembled and she let out a breaking noise from within the back of her throat. Lina shoved her face against his weak chest and cried. Her sobs came out muffled for she was crying in his clothes but on the other side of the room door, everyone can hear her.

"You promised." Gourry said rather disappointedly and Lina choked loudly in her tears. She lifted her head up and wiped every wet droplet away.

"S-Sorry…" She apologized and smiled weakly at him. Her tears were nonstop and she kept wiping it away. "I-I can't help it. I… I always thought that I would be the first to go."

"I didn't." He grinned. "I knew… I was going first. I would have done everything to keep you alive…"

"Gourry…" Lina whispered and stopped cleaning her face. They stared at each other for a silent moment and even though he was smiling, Gourry released a few tears too.

* * *

Xellos stepped outside of the bedroom. Holding the door open for Sylphiel's turn with Gourry, he released a heavy sigh before fixing his body straight and closing the door. Unlike everyone else who shed tears; Xellos went straight to his spot on the couch and return to his lukewarm tea. Nearby, Lina was leaning against the cabin's window still. She was staring intently through the dark-shaded forest at the large blue moon being blocked from the jagged tree tops. She hugged her upper body with her thin arms, her chin resting upon her forearm and her lips pulled into her mouth. Nearby, still lingering in the dark corner, was Pokota. He had not spoken since the cave and refused to look at anybody, especially Lina who was just a few feet away from his back.

"What are you doing to do, robot?" Lina asked softly. Xellos and Val looked up from the couch while Zelgadiss and Amelia turned their bodies from the cabin wall. They glanced between Lina and Pokota. The robot made no reply. She waited for any response, except her patience wouldn't let her.

"Are you going to leave?" No reply still. Lina let out a sudden scoff and pushed off the window still. She made her way to the silent being and grabbed the back of his top. Jerking his body away from the wall, Lina threw Pokota to the ground and pinned him down. He struggled against her but refused to spout one word.

"Dammit, Pokota!" The redhead grabbed his thrashing arms and shoved them over his head. With the tips of their noses just millimeters from each others, Lina glared angrily at him. "DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU, OR NOT?" She screamed and Pokota fidgeted in her grasp. He gulped to be the object of Lina's stern gaze but remained silent.

"He wants to see you." The room door was open and Sylphiel stood there with teary eyes. Slowly, Lina lifted off Pokota's tiny body and moved to go to the room.

"No." Sylphiel stopped Lina from entering the room. "Not you."

"Who then?"

"Him." She pointed to the robot sitting up from the ground. "Gourry-Sama wants to see him." Bothered but didn't want to create a conflict with Gourry, Lina stepped to the side. Pokota shook his head, he didn't want anything to do with him but he heard his name being called from inside of the room. Gourry was calling to him and judging from his voice, he was weak. Unenthusiastic and extremely reluctant, Pokota entered the room and Sylphiel closed the door behind him. Gourry raised a hand and motioned him over when he entered but Pokota didn't move at all. He had no intention in getting closer.

"I got… something to give you." The young boy in the bed continued to motion him closer until he let out a dry cough. Eventually, after watching the unfamiliar body choking for air, the guest left the wooden door and sit on the chair next to the bed. It was there, on that side of the bed, Gourry shared the simplest enlightenment that Pokota ever received.

"I need you… to do something for me." Gourry opened his hand and revealed the engagement ring that he had given to Lina. "It's missing stones," He noticed the missing Lithium fragments that Lina had plucked out to see for her updated Dragon Slave. "Can you fill it for me?"

"I don't…" Pokota kept both hands to himself. He refused to take the ring.

"Please." The dying man pleaded softly. "It's important." Pokota knew how important this ring was for Gourry and Lina but he didn't want to take it. He didn't want to do anything that associated with Lina. The ring bounced off his fingers when Gourry let out another wave of coughs. The jewel rolled off the edge of the bed and to the ground where it made a loud sound. Pokota stared at the ring between his feet and shook his head.

"I… I can't…"

"Are you… really that scared?" He whispered. Before Pokota could answer him back, Gourry released a dry chuckle.

"Lina doesn't mean it, you know." He shrugged his shoulder. "She's not nice… but she has a good heart. She is only looking out for you." Pokota looked up in perplexity. Did Gourry think that he was scared of Lina?

"No," He tried to say. "I'm not scared of Lina. I'm scared of-"

"When I met Lina for the first time," But Gourry continued. "She yelled at me because…" He grinned. "I thought she was a boy." Gourry was giving him advice, the wrong type of advice and Pokota tried to tell him but it was no use, he kept talking. After awhile though, Pokota gave up and just let him talk. He listened to a few parts and drifted into his own thoughts but listened when Gourry had a difficult time talking.

"We have a deal…" Gourry sighed after releasing a clogged cough. "When I die," Pokota's ears perked up. "Lina is supposed to move on and not be sad. But I know… that's not going to happen."

"Maybe," Pokota spoke. "She will move on."

"That would be nice…" He smiled and Pokota cringed at that smile. Almost immediately after seeing that smile, Pokota turned his head to face the opposite direction. Fully content, Gourry looked up at the ceiling and watched the wooden planks until Pokota whispered out his name.

"Are you…" He hesitated. "Scared to die?"

"Not really." Gourry smirked. "I get to see everyone again." Pokota nodded slowly and lowered his eyes again. That wasn't the response he wanted to hear.

"Still," Gourry sighed and Pokota looked up. "I wish I can stay..."

"If you had a choice," Pokota quickly said. "Would you die or live?" He waited for his answer and Gourry gave it.

"I'll die."

"But…" Pokota was shocked. "But you can live… and-and be with Lina and everyone here!"

"I'll still choose to die."

"WHY?" He began to fret. "Why do you want to DIE?" Pokota moved to the edge of the seat and got closer to Gourry. "There is no eternal happiness or torment after you die. There is NOTHING."

"In the end," Pokota's chest heaved rapidly for he was speaking so quickly. "You don't get to see your dead relatives or anybody else. Nothing happens and nothing exists. There is nothing and nobody." He was speaking so loud that even with the bedroom door closed, everyone in the cabin can hear.

"We are all alone…" Pokota whispered finally and met Gourry's widen eyes. "I mean…" He slowly lowered his head. "I'm all alone." Gourry kept still on the bed. He had watched with emotional eyes and listened with care. After Pokota finished speaking, Gourry released a heavy sigh and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, Pokota." He tilted his head in several directions as if he was contemplating. "Maybe you are right." Gourry muttered and Pokota's sorrowful head lowered some more. "Maybe we won't see anybody or anything and we'll sort of drift forever doing nothing."

"And if that is true," Gourry promptly stopped moving his head around and looked back at Pokota. "I'll still choose to die." Pokota stared at Gourry in utter disbelief.

"Why?" He asked breathlessly. "You'll spend an eternity in darkness."

"Not if you die for something good." Gourry said in a happy tune. "If you die for something good, you'll be happy afterwards." Pokota was speechless. This man in front of him blamed nobody for his death, not even himself. His death was coming and he accepted it because he believed that he was dying for 'something good'. 'Something good' altered Pokota's way of thinking.

"Like," Gourry pouted happily. "I believed I am dying because… I did something good."

"But, you didn't." Pokota pointed out. "You are dying because Hell-Master switched bodies with you. You're death means nothing-"

"What I mean is," He chuckled. "I have no regrets." Gourry turned his head. The door had opened during Pokota's outburst.

"If I had stayed in the South," He met eyes with Zelgadiss. "I never would've apologized to Zelgadiss and Amelia." He glanced at the girl by Zelgadiss's side and grinned. Amelia gave back a large smile and wiped away the developing water in her eyes. "Zel, Amelia, and I are friends again. And that's great."

"Also," Gourry moved his eyes to Xellos. "I never would've heard Xellos's apology."

"And if I weren't taken to Hell-Master's tower," He saw Sylphiel at the corner of his eye. "Sylphiel may have died. And I don't want anybody to die because of me… Especially, Sylphiel."

"O-Oh, Gourry-Sama…" The woman choked in her tears and covered her face.

"Most of all," Gourry looked at Lina. She was smiling back already. "I got to see Lina again and she was really nice to me… She didn't hit me once today."

"Y-You big idiot." Lina laughed slightly through blocked tears.

"So, you see," He looked back at Pokota with the biggest smile that a dying man can make. "I can die happy now."

"But… you don't know where you're going…" The robot unhappily muttered.

"So?" Gourry shrugged. "As long as I left happy… I know that I'll stay happy, wherever I go." Then, he grabbed Pokota's hand, making him jump at his sudden contact.

"I bet your Pops," Gourry trailed his hand up Pokota's arm and to his upper chest. "Wherever he is," He planted his shaking palm on Pokota's vibrating chest. "Is happy because he had met you, just like me."

"Oh…" His own voice trembled from the deep emotion that Gourry rattled. Pokota grasped Gourry's hand over his chest and held it for a long minute. They said nothing to each other until Gourry's eyes slowly shut. His loose hand slipped out of Pokota's hold and dangled over the edge of the bed. He was not dead, just extremely tired but judging from the sudden turn of events, it was ultimately going to be his last sleep before passing.

"Come on," Lina was behind him now. She took Pokota's shoulders. "He's not dead yet."

"G-Gourry…" Pokota called softly. He was desperate to hear his voice again but at the same time, didn't want to disturb him. Before he left, Pokota picked up the ring on the floor and stared at it in his hand while Lina pushed him out the room. The door shut behind them and each person in the room stared at Pokota, wondering what he was going to do. Except Pokota didn't notice, all he cared about was the worn out ring in his palm and how beautiful the sounds of the tiny crystals made in his ears.

* * *

Her piercing voice can be heard throughout the entire forest. It didn't stop him though. Pokota kept running until the joints in his legs started to creak. Soon enough, he was at the Lithium mines again and there, standing where he said he was going to be a few hours ago, was Gourry's body leaning against the closed Lithium entrance.

"Pokota." The body stepped forward. "I was beginning to doubt you." He opened his long arms, inviting the small robot for a hug except Pokota stared at the false mister with a slight glare.

"I know who you are." Pokota spoke angrily. "Hell-Master Philbrizo." He said his full name and Hell-Master winced slightly but quickly recovered with a big smile.

"What are you talking about, Pokota? I'm Gou-"

"I'm not stupid." Pokota growled. "I know that you and Gourry switched bodies at your tower and I know that you are only using me so I can let you in that mine." Taking several steps until he was directly in front of him, Hell-Master bent his body forward so he was looking down at Pokota.

"If you know so much," His smile grew wider. "Why did you come here so willingly?"

"Because." Pokota's eyebrows curled. "Because I want to survive." Stuffing his hand in his pants pocket, his fingers came in contact with the cold metal and pulled it out. There, present in the palm of his hand, was Lina's destructive weapon, the Dragon Slave. Hell-Master chuckled softly. Pokota looked over his cool expression before handing the immense weaponry over. When the gun touched his hand, Hell-Master wrapped his long fingers around the handle of the weapon and raised it to eye-level.

"Impressive work…" He snorted slightly. "For a human."

"You should see my other creations," Hell-Master and Pokota spun their heads around. There was Lina, Xellos and Val standing nearby with their loaded weapons pointed directly at them. Lina growled. "Hell-Master." Without her Dragon Slave, Lina held her revolvers in each hand and Gourry's sword at her hip. Hell-Master glanced at Pokota and found general sign of shock in the robot's eyes. Hell-Master looked back at the intruding threesome and lowered the Dragon Slave to his empty belt. He wasn't about to forfeit this impressive human's work for fools.

"Pokota." Lina held her stern eyes on Pokota but he only looked away. "Please… Think of your Pops-"

"It's too late, Bandit Killer." Hell-Master stepped to Pokota's side and placed a hand over Pokota's shoulder. "Tell her, Pokota."

"Pokota," Lina didn't give up. "Don't leave with him."

"Lina…" Pokota frowned. He glanced at Hell-Master, who was smiling at him like a trusty friend would do. Pokota sighed and looked back at Lina; his head shook side-to-side. "I'm nothing-"

"You are not nothing!" She began to shout. "You are a leader to your people, a friend to us, and a son to your Pops! You are not nothing!"

"Robots are not humans, Pokota." Hell-Master whispered. "We have no souls. It is the Lithium that allows us to live but it is also the Lithium that makes us fake." He emphasized the word 'fake' and smirked to see Pokota fidget. Lina saw the effects of his enticing speech and tried to stop him.

"Don't listen to him, Pokota!"

"There is nothing real about us." Hell-Master continued to whisper into Pokota's nimble ear.

"Shut up!"

"You and I will never experience friendship, relationships, or any kinship with humans because we are not real." He returned to Pokota's side. "We are nothing to them or to our creator." Pokota's knees went wobbly and he dropped to the ground, his hands holding himself from falling face forward.

"Did you really believe your creator when he said he loved you?" Hell-Master laughed a loud. "Those were all LIES! Lies to keep you grounded! Lies to keep you from fulfilling your REAL PURPOSE!"

"SHUT UP!" Lina pulled back the hammer on both guns. "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" She unleashed three bullets out of their chambers and though she purposely missed her target, her last bullet grazed against his high cheekbone and droplets of blood leaked out. Hell-Master touched the light wound with his fingertips and looked at the bright red blood. He glared immensely at the sight of his blood and turned his anger to the redhead.

"You are going to pay for that." In a blink of an eye, Hell-Master disappeared within their views and Lina was tossed off her feet. Her body slide across the clearing and pounded into the trunk of a tree.

"LINA!" Val moved to go to her but his own body was kicked at mid-distance and tussled against the ground. Xellos dispersed to prevent from capture while desperately searching for the fast enemy. As Val was lifting himself off the dirt, Hell-Master unexpectedly landed at the center on his chest hard, making the teen let out a rigid shriek.

"VAL!" Lina grabbed her sharp daggers and threw all three at Hell-Master's back. It would've been an accurate hit if he didn't spin around in time and caught them expertly. Still on top of Val's body, Hell-Master threw the daggers back and like lightening, it was too fast to see. The daggers struck the trunk of the tree beside Lina's face, stopping her from moving away. With a teasing finger, Hell-Master waved his pointer at her, silently calling her 'naughty'. Finally, he turned to face Xellos. He was standing with his rapier but was refusing to move. Hell-Master stepped off Val and slowly made his way to Xellos.

"Xellos." He chuckled. "I am disappointed in you. I never thought you were going to deceive me."

"If I recollect, Hell-Master, I follow under one master." The two robots stared at each other with big smiles. Hell-Master sighed and crossed his arms behind his neck, his head tilting to the side.

"Such a pity that your pathetic body refused the Lithium," Hell-Master looked over Xellos's thin body. "You could've been so much more powerful." Then, tilting his head to the other direction, Hell-Master smiled again.

"But then again," The robot unhooked his arms. "Your existence proved to be great use. Without you, this entire operation never would have taken place." He giggled to hear a soft gasp from Lina's mouth.

"Didn't you know?" Hell-Master pointed at Xellos. "You are in the presence of a mass murderer! This beast is the sole reason this renaissance began! He traveled town after town, slaughtering innocent lives for the location of the Lithium mine that vanished three years ago." He snickered as he lowered his hand. "I wouldn't be alive without Xellos."

"I accept no gratitude." Xellos bowed slightly. "Just the terrible reminder of my past events is enough for me."

"Unacceptable." Hell-Master snapped. "You deserve a more superior compensation." In a flash, Hell-Master materialized in front of Xellos and with a twist of his arm; he thrust his entire upper limb through Xellos's chest and grasp his still beating heart in his hand. From his mouth and the opening of his chest, Xellos spilled blood everywhere. Once the bloody arm retracted from his body, Xellos dropped to his knees and stared upon on the wicked grin on Hell-Master's face. Holding the heart close to his face, Hell-Master clenched the organ in his hand until it stopped.

"One more left." He whispered and Xellos's body crashed to the ground. Lina was still positioned against the tree. She was unable to move, Lina was like a deer in headlights. She watched this monster take out one of her strongest adversary in a second. She couldn't believe the power, the speed, and the malice in this being. And when he turned to face her, Lina waited anxiously for the impending tightness that would come around her throat. Hell-Master lifted the woman off the ground and watched her struggle for air. She squirmed wildly in his hand, her upper and lower limbs wiggling aggressively at his body.

"No…" Pokota finally opened his mouth. Like before, he was terrified and watched as his friends get pummeled.

"The death of this woman is a necessity." Hell-Master spoke softly. "Without her, WE can survive." He glanced at Pokota. "WE can live forever." He didn't know what to do. Pokota watched forcefully as Lina cringed on her short breaths. When she gave out a weak choke, he instantly covered his ears to block it. But even through blocked ears, Pokota was able to hear the loud release of a highly-explosive weapon. The impact of the missile picked Hell-Master off the ground and across the clearing to the side of the hill. Free from his tight grasp and massaging her sore throat, Lina was hurled to the ground and coughed wildly for any air. Then, a pair of familiar hands took her shoulders.

"Lina." It was Filia. Lina turned her head up and saw Filia's dirty face; she was covered in dirt and dry blood. She looked like she just went through hell to get to her. "I'm here." With the help of Filia, Lina was able to get on her feet and see the monstrous machine that was eating through the wild trees. It was the same rolling machine that Huraker had created but was stockier and acquired heavier weapons. Located on the top of the tank, sitting cross-legged with barely any hair left and falling skin was Milgazia and he was behind the controls of the large grenade launcher.

"Hurry up." Milgazia grumbled to Filia as she loaded Xellos's dead body into the tank. "Hell-Master can come back any second." They already knew about Gourry and Hell-Master's body exchange, probably because they visited the cabin first before rushing to their aid. But when Lina turned to look at Pokota, he was already gone. She looked at the blacken area at the side of the hill where Hell-Master's body should have been.

"Where is he?" Milgazia and Filia simultaneously asked.

"He's gone." Lina said rather calmly. "And Pokota went with him."

* * *

It was well after midnight and Milgazia stayed outside of the cabin with a candle. His rotting body was giving off a putrid smell and he did not want to disturb anybody else with it. He sat on the porch with his hands gathered over his crossed legs and meditated with his eyes shut. Inside, completely recovered from his deathly ordeal, Xellos was hunched like a boulder on the floorboards while Filia was closing his revealing wound under several candle lights. Sylphiel was going in and out of the bedroom, checking up on Gourry and constantly making noises, and as for Lina, she had her body stretched out on the long furniture. The redhead was calmly sleeping with a revolver clutched in her curled hand.

Filia hastily finished her stitching on Xellos's back and moved to the front without saying a word. She shuffled between his legs and pushed his bare shoulders back, allowing her to work on the hole in his chest. Xellos had both eyes open and watched as Filia worked. She did not bother to meet with his eyes or even look at his face. Purposely concentrating on stitching, Filia kept both eyes on the grotesque image of his human heart beating in front of her. When she finally got the large wound to close, Filia moved to leave but Xellos grabbed hold of her wrist. His touch made her fidget. She had admitted to herself that she had feelings for the murderous robot but Filia was completely weary with him. After what happened between Lina and Gourry, she did not want anything to do with him but after their previous encounter, that rule was hard to follow. Slowly looking back at him, Filia gulped at the sight of his smile, it illuminated from the flickering candle light.

"Help me up?" He asked so dependently that it melted Filia's heart. She had no choice and lifted him off the ground. Being that he was on his last heart, she noticed right away that he was unsteady even with his cane and was breathing quite heavier than usual. She only let go of his wrists for a second when he started to fall back down again, however Filia caught him before he did.

"I need air." Xellos whispered so roughly and using his cane, he pointed to the door. "Please," He had his free hand grasping his troubled heart. "Take me outside."

"What happened?" Filia easily dragged him by his shoulders. "You are so weak."

"This is my last heart." The door opened and Filia lead him outside. Milgazia made no movement as Filia set the robot on the other end of the porch. "It's been a long time since I utilized only one heart."

"Then, you better not be naughty and squander the remaining time that you have."

"You are so not cute." He muttered softly and Filia rolled her eyes. When she returned inside the cabin, Xellos relaxed his thin body against the steps of the porch and tilted his head upwards to suck in clean air through his nostrils. He was enjoying the refreshing night air until Milgazia released an annoying chuckle.

"It looks like I'm going to see you on the other side pretty soon."

"It looks like it." Using the end of his cane, Xellos pushed against Milgazia's shoulder and smiled. "Or you can do something about it." Milgazia snorted at his request and turned his head away.

"I would rather die than allow you to live longer."

"Is that anyway to thank your rescuer?" Xellos shook his head with a snicker. Then something caught his eye, Xellos turned to look upon the darken forest near his side of the cabin. He sighed to see slight commotion and stood up unsteadily with the help of his cane.

"Don't die." Milgazia rudely remarked as Xellos limp unevenly into the forest. He knew that there was something occurring and with the heavy machine gun next to his feet, Milgazia was simply content of letting Xellos take care of it. Carefully making his way a few meters into the sinister forest, Xellos stopped to take a breather next to a tall tree and was not at all surprised when the forest visitor appeared next to him.

"Is this where you were hiding?" He folded his hands over the ruby ornament on his cane and looked upon Val. Using the large full moon's shine as light, Val kept his red glaring eyes on Xellos's cheerful face and his muscular arms tightly crossed over his chest. "You know, your mother would be overjoyed if-"

"I had my suspicions about you from the start." Val didn't waste any time. "Especially when I saw that smug smirk on your face, I knew I saw you before." Taking several steps around Xellos in the darkness, he kept watch of him.

"I should have realized it sooner." Val stopped in front of him and snarled. "You murderer."

"You only realized this now, Val-Kun?" Xellos chuckled but was interrupted right away when Val revealed his sword and pointed it directly at his neck. The sword's blade glinted in the moonlight. Xellos glanced at the sleek sword and at Val's twisted expression. "What do you plan to do with that?"

"I'm going to kill you just like how you killed my family."

"Delectable." The robot cheerfully said and made no effort to stop him. Val pulled his weapon back a few inches to slice through Xellos's neck but his body did not allow him to venture forward with this act. The sword shook tremendously in his hands as Val tried to move. Xellos watched on with his usual smile and chuckled when Val lowered his weapon with a growl. "No cold blood in you?"

"SHUT UP!" The green-haired teen shouted. He glared at his hands and snarled. "WHY CAN'T I MOVE?" Swinging his sword wildly in the air, he tried again to slice at Xellos's neck but failed miserably when his arms refused to bring his weapon in contact.

"FUCK!" He ditched the sword and went to his fists. Val pulled his tights balls back and swung with all his might except it never made contact with Xellos's face. His hands would stop just inches from Xellos's nose and would not go any further.

"Want me to tell you?" Xellos asked. Val let out a terrible roar and kept trying to beat his face in. His hands would constantly freeze up. After many attempts, Xellos decided to stop this troublesome and caught both of Val's swinging fists.

"What is your mission?" He questioned and like a dog, Val opened his mouth.

"To protect Lina Inverse. To eliminate the Outlaw Four." Easily bringing Val's hands down, Xellos made it so their faces were barely touching.

"That is why you cannot kill me." Xellos smiled wickedly and Val's eyes widen. With that, he released Val's hands and watched the teenager stagger slightly away. His body still resting on the tree, Xellos kept relaxing while Val stared at him. Pacing back-and-forth for a while, Val stopped and reached into his pockets. He took out a dagger and aimed it at Xellos's head. However, the dagger never left his hand.

"I will find a way." Val whispered and shoved his weapon back into its place. Slowly, the dead teenager stepped backwards out of the moon's light and as soon as he was engulfed within the darkness, he disappeared. Xellos sighed and moved off the tree trunk. While he was gone, Amelia and Zelgadiss had returned from their little venture and were being informed by Milgazia of Pokota's betrayal and Hell-Master's attack. And when Xellos finally got back to the porch, Amelia had already entered the cabin leaving the men alone.

"With Pokota in their disposal, Hell-Master will plan to move out quickly." Zelgadiss spoke as soon as Xellos sat down. "He will try to take the mines as soon as possible, maybe tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow." Xellos sighed. "He will strike within the hour. Maybe, two at the most."

"Within the hour?" Zelgadiss expressed in shock.

"He knows that we are tired and wounded. Even I am barely hanging on to this pathetic heart." The purple-haired male chuckled. Tilting his head upwards to look upon the large hanging moon above them, Xellos released another deep sigh. "Hell-Master will revive his infinite army of the dead and will attack this safe house in one fine swoop."

"Eventually, we will be overrun with the dead and soon, be a part of his undead army." He spoke in such a way that he experienced it all before. Zelgadiss and Milgazia stared at him as if he was speaking in different tongues. Xellos smirked and lowered his head; his choppy bangs blocked half of his face.

"We will not win this war without a weapon."

"Lina Inverse will NOT be swayed by your methods." Milgazia stood by his decision. "She will NOT turn into a monster like the rest of us."

"Then we will all die." Xellos simply said. "Hell-Master can easily alter Pokota's decision. He will destroy any humanity that robot has left, thus making him truly a robot." Then he looked over at the two exhausted tigers resting nearby. Overworked and completely weakened from the sudden labor their riders put them through; they were lying on their sides with their long legs stretched out. Next to them, a long and thick piece of lumber was resting on the ground. That was the reason Amelia and Zelgadiss had left Lina and the others to deal with Hell-Master alone. They traveled on their tigers to Taforashia and back with the heavy thing and from the looks of it, it looked as if that they didn't need it after all. From behind the front door, Lina was listening in on their conversation. She turned her head to the side and saw Amelia and Filia speaking soft and kind words to stop the tears falling from Sylphiel's eyes. That girl could not stop crying over Gourry and the mess that was going on. Lowering her head, Lina stared at the lone revolver in her hand and recalled her dream.

* * *

Lina was floating in air. But all she could think about was the tight grip that held around her neck just moments ago until she came across the first step of the tavern. She recognized the tavern as Zangulas's in Saillune and went through the familiar swinging front doors. The bar was less crowded than usual, just random circle tables around the tavern were occupied by unknown figures with their faces covered with darkness. Everything was the same except there was no barkeep cleaning an empty glass mug for her to drink out of. Instead, Lina saw someone familiar occupying the bar.

"This one is on me." Her older sister sat with her long slender legs crossed and her body facing her. She wasn't wearing the tight black outfit anymore. No, she was wearing the garments Lina saw on her the last time in Zephilia, a flattering maroon skirt fishnet stockings and a white long-sleeved corset with red laces in front. Her dark red hair was still the same, heavy bangs and cut at the shoulders. But unlike the time in Zephilia, Luna had a gentle smirk on her face. It was inviting and the fear that Lina once had disappeared.

"What are we doing here?" Lina sat next to her sister and accepted the foaming beer from the bar.

"Do you remember the last thing you gave me, Lina?" Luna didn't bother to answer the question and began recollecting past memories. Lina shook her head. Luna lifted her hand from her side and showed off a white hair ribbon.

"Do you remember what you told me when you gave this to me?"

"No." Lina shook her head again.

"You said," Like a big sister, Luna reached over and combed back Lina's wavy bangs away from her forehead. "You love looking at my eyes." She weaved the white ribbon through Lina's long hair and made a pretty bow right on top of her head. "You said that it reminded you of mom's eyes."

"I said that?" Lina stared upon Luna with large unblinking eyes. Luna's smirk widened into a smile.

"You weren't such a brat then." Without saying another word, Luna got off her stool and left the bar. Lina followed obediently and was soon joining a card game with two other figures and Luna on a table. Luna was dealing and she calmly shuffled the deck like a pro, her long fingers made it easy for her to hold the cards. She passed the first card to her left and it was this man that Lina's eyes stayed put on. He was a handsome man with strong features and black long hair. Something about this man intrigued her.

"That is Philbrizo." Luna answered when Lina asked. "Before he took the Lithium and became Hell-Master."

"That's… Hell-Master?" Lina gaped.

"He's not bad-looking." Her sister chuckled and continued to pass the cards around. Lina kept watching Hell-Master's original face until Luna called for her bet. She looked at her cards and found nothing. She ditched her lousy hand just as the fourth player shoved half his chips in. It was Pokota.

"Pokota!" Lina stared at Pokota's nonchalant expression. "What the hell is Pokota doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Luna muttered while looking through her hand. "He's fighting against Hell-Master." She too dumped her hand and raised her eyebrows when Hell-Master threw in his chips and a little more after Pokota. "And Hell-Master is fighting back hard."

"Playing poker?" Lina watched as the two male went back and forth, putting chip after chip in the middle of the table.

"Poker is a game of intelligence, extreme luck, and perseverance." The final bets were in and Pokota flipped his hand over first. It was a diamond flush and at the sudden switch of expression on Hell-Master's face, it was a great hand.

"It has the same concepts of a life." Luna spoke as Pokota lean forward to collect his chips. His hands were around the large mound of chips and in the process of pulling it to his side of the table until Hell-Master presented his hand. It was a full house. Lina and Luna watched as Hell-Master retrieved his winnings with a wicked grin and glanced at each other.

"Except, you don't die in a poker game." The chips stacked high around Hell-Master's side while there were only a few next to Pokota. The cards went around again and this time, Lina betted her chips in. She turned her head when Pokota suddenly pushed everything he had in the middle of the table.

"This is Pokota's final hand." Luna mentioned as she ditched her cards. "If he loses this one, he will lose everything."

"What can I do?" Lina asked immediately. "What can I do to help him win over Hell-Master?"

"This." Reaching over, Luna grabbed Lina's remaining pile of chips and dumped it in front of Pokota. So now, she had none and he had some. Lina stared at her bare side of the table.

"I have nothing." She whispered so softly.

"That is the rule." Luna met Lina's concern eyes with a smirk. "You can give him your chips to stay in the game but it is he who must overcome Hell-Master. It is his battle, not yours." Luna's smirk was pleasant to look at and Lina looked for a long time but it was Pokota's announcement to dump his cards that made her get back into the game. From across the table, Hell-Master met with her ruby eyes. He smiled and glanced at her bare table side. Evening the playing field, Hell-Master pushed his collection of chips into the center and now, they were both on their final hands. Lina passed a few of her cards to the side and picked the same amount of new cards from the deck.

"It's the best plan yet." Her sister answered before Lina got a chance to question.

"Would you do it?"

"We are humans, Lina." Luna leaned back into her wooden chair and sighed. "We were to live out our pathetic and meaningless lives, repopulate this world with stupider versions of ourselves, and die."

"Luna…" Like an older sibling, Luna reached over and moved several stranded bangs away from Lina's eyes. Cupping Lina's face gently, Luna tilted her head so she can have a better look and it was then Lina was able to see through her heavy set bangs and stare within Luna's own eyes. It was a darker color than hers but with no shine.

"Keep living, Lina." Luna smirked and vanished in thin air.

* * *

Zelgadiss rushed through the cabin door at the loud outbursts. His eyes grew to see Lina unconscious on the ground with Amelia and Sylphiel supporting her body. The redhead was curled to the side; her mouth was open with light trails of blood falling from the edges.

"What happened?" He asked and Filia turned around to face him. She held a small metal pan in her hand and it was coated with silvery liquid in the inside. It was the remaining Lithium and there was none left.

"It happened so fast." Filia's face was white as a sheet. "I... I didn't think she would… do it-"

"What happened?" Milgazia was already in the cabin. He shoved past Zelgadiss and snatched the empty pan from Filia's hand. Taking a long look at the pan and at Lina's excruciating expression; Milgazia glanced at Filia with angry eyes.

"Why didn't you stop her?" He said in such an aggressive tone that it made Filia gasp and took a few steps away. Filia didn't answer back so Amelia chimed in from the floor.

"We tried too, Milgazia-San!" And she pointed at the revolver in Lina's still clutched hand. "But she had us at gun point and in chapter 14, paragraph 8 of the revolver manual, it states that one must always obey the person holding the revolver!" The cabin got quiet from this sudden spill of knowledge and after exchanging long looks with each other, everyone turned their focus when Lina let out a sudden cough.

"Lina!" Filia rushed over while Sylphiel and Amelia leaned. Lina cringed at the sharp pain all over her body and lifted a shaking hand in front of Sylphiel. Her fingers trembled and were yearning to grasp so Sylphiel took her hand in hers and held it against her chest.

"Come on, Lina." The long-haired woman called. "You can do it-"

"Lina Inverse is not a match for Lithium." Milgazia began spouting. "Her body will not be compatible with the power and will perish-"

"There were three human vessels chosen for Hell-Master's upbringing." Xellos wobbled into the cabin. He could only make past the doorway on his own before relying on the wall to press his body against to move forward. "Previous to his final decision with Gourry-San, I was the likely candidate for Hell-Master."

"But the moment the Lithium touched my bloodstream, I died immediately." He coldly whispered. "If it weren't for Greater Beast Master's quick hands, I would have stayed dead." Xellos came across a chair and exhaustedly sat upon it. "Gourry-San was the next choice and if he had ended up like me, the final and only choice would have been Lina-San."

"Lina-San was the next vessel…" Amelia repeated with wide eyes.

"She is the Bandit Killer." He smirked. "Of course she would've been chosen."

"Just because Gourry was able to withstand the Lithium, Lina may not able too." Zelgadiss countered.

"She is still breathing." Xellos pointed with the use of his cane and indeed, Lina's chest was rapidly going in and out. "That means that she is allowing the Lithium to take her body. She is letting it take control."

"Why didn't your body allow the Lithium to take control?" Filia asked in a low tone. Xellos flinched at her sudden question and lowered his cane. He could feel everyone's eyes staring intensely at him but it wasn't as intense as Filia's unblinking gaze.

"Well," He smiled cheerfully. "That is a secret."


	29. Chapter 29 Mechanical War

Chapter 29 - Mechanical War

Pokota shuffled backwards until a heel came in contact with a rock. His body immediately dropped to the ground but he kept shuffling away. Only when he reached the edge of the cliff did he stop moving and watched the man in Gourry's body inch closer and closer. Pokota was completely shaken from the fight. He watched helplessly as this robot literally minced Lina and the others. Pulling his legs to his chin, Pokota shook tremendously and pressed his face hard against his knees. Instead of stopping in front of him, Hell-Master went next to his crouched body and stared out at the thick woods under his sight.

"This world is fading away fast." His hands clutched together behind his back, Hell-Master squinted his eyes slightly to pinpoint his view on the little cabin. "And humans are the cause of its extinction."

"Humans believe they are the mighty ruler of this world. I am simply demonstrating that there is a superior existence worthy of putting an end to their foolish reality." Finally turning his body to the tiny robot, Hell-Master paused to watch Pokota frequently glance between him and his knees. "I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't true."

"B-But…" His whiny voice piped. "My friends-"

"Your friends," Hell-Master dove straight to him, his nose just inches away from Pokota's nose. "They see you as a piece of metal trash." He grabbed the sides of his head and Pokota's eyes flung wide as Hell-Master bashed their foreheads together, forcing him to look straight into his dark navy orbs.

"You heard it for yourself. They want to get rid of the Lithium mine. They want to destroy every part of our existence. They want to get rid of us." Pokota tried to move his head away but Hell-Master pulled his attention back.

"Your dear friends want to see you dead." It was true. Everything he said was true. But, why? Pokota pulled his head back to the top of his knees when Hell-Master let go of him. Why did he want to stay true to those selfish fleshy beings? Those ridiculous humans want to obliterate the robots. His 'friends' want to get rid of him, Lina said so. So, why is Pokota being resistant? Why is he still being hesitant?

"Help us, Pokota." A sturdy hand positioned in front of his eyes. "Help your true brothers and sisters. Help us survive this war and bring upon peace to our existence." Staring intently at the solid offer, it took Pokota all his inner strength to lift his own hand and take the offer. He was quickly pulled off the dirt and spun around to face the thick woods that lay below the hanging cliff that they were standing on. He could see the tiny cabin that was being illuminated by the hovering blue moon above them and the large army of robots advancing menacingly towards them. It was a large army.

* * *

"THIS IS STUPID." Martina's bad tempered complaints increased as time passed. Exhausted and absolutely frustrated, Filia turned to her snobby partner and growled at her in the quietest way possible.

"Will you SHUT UP? You will get us KILLED."

"It is not my fault." Martina pulled the tip of her nose upward and crossed her thin arms over her chest. "I would have preferred to be with my beautiful husband, than be partnered with you." Unfortunately for Filia, she was teamed with Martina, who had arrived with Zangulas to help out with their clash with the robots. They were placed coordinately at the eastern side of the mountain while Xellos and Zangulas were at the opposite side. Amelia and Zelgadiss held the front entrance of the closed Lithium mine, and Milgazia circled the south end of the mountain in the tank. They were each divided and positioned so when the robot army arrived, they would be able to hold off all sides and block any robots from entering the mine. Notably though, Lina was still disabled from the sudden lapse with the Lithium and none of them knew when she was going to recover from it. So, it was just them and their overused weapons against highly mechanical creatures with technology that could easily annihilate them.

"You're not the only one." Filia grumbled beneath her breath. She meant it for herself, except Martina heard it at another approach.

"Oh, I see." She giggled with her face scrunched to the middle. "You'd rather be with your metal lover-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Filia caught herself from tripping and angrily faced her but Martina gave a mischievous smirk that got her to regret starting this. She merely opened her mouth and Filia quickly defended herself. "That Namagomi and I are NOT together!"

"I know what love looks like." Martina twirled her Sais annoyingly at the tip of Filia's nose. "I have fallen in love with multiple men until I found my true love in the most unlikely of places, at a bar." She withdrew her handheld weapon while Filia threatened silently to use her spiky mace.

"You cannot fool me, Filia."

"I am not-"

"Then why are you so angry? Only a person so much in love would be so angry when denying it." Martina rolled her eyes when Filia said nothing. "Denial will only anger you for refusing to accept your truest emotion and you can only blame yourself when you end up sad, alone, and old." She stopped herself when she saw the developing sadness erupting in Filia's eyes and quickly changed her pathway.

"It's practically the end of the world!" She raised her arms in the air to alter Filia's train of thought and it succeeded, Filia was looking at her with confusion now. Placing her hands on her sharp shoulders, Martina grinned at Filia with all her teeth showing. "So, what more can you lose?"

"My pride and sanity." She told her and Martina shrugged her one shoulder.

"You lost your sanity when you fell in love and well, you're going to lose your pride when you confess to him." With that, the gypsy queen turned around and return to patrolling the area. Filia stood there, watching Martina's backside. Truth be told, what more can she lose? She already lost her business, her home, her friends, and her beloved son. Xellos and her closest friends were the only ones left. And losing him the first time suffocated her so the very thought of losing him forever made her knees weak and her body to hunch forward. It hurt the pit of her stomach and her heart.

"Do you hear that?" Martina asked suddenly, breaking Filia's trailing thoughts.

"Hear what?" Uncurling her arms from her waist, Filia looked around her surroundings, her ears doubling in size. "I don't hear anything."

"That's what I'm worried about." The trinkets in Martina's skirt hit against each other as she twirled her entire body to face Filia. "I don't hear anything." Unexpectedly, in the camouflage of the darkness, hands from beneath the ground burst around their feet and grabbed at their ankles. Martina and Filia screamed instantly at the sudden attack and kicked their way to freedom.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Martina bounced around in fear that another pair of hands would grab at her feet again. The two watched in broken silence as more hands broke through the tough surface and decaying human bodies crawled out from beneath their graves. Within seconds, the two ladies were completely surrounded.

"It's the Lithium." Filia muttered with bated breath. "Hell-Master brought the dead back using the Lithium."

"Oh my- IT'S DISGUSTING!" Martina released a high-pitch screech and began swinging her Sais everywhere, clearly missing each opponent. "GET AWAY! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Filia swung her heavy iron mace to the closest undead walker. When a dead hand grabbed onto her shoulder, she grabbed the large portable flamethrower that was strapped on her back. Filia twisted out of the hold and launched a wave of fire at the surrounding zombies. She called out for Martina to move and when she did; Filia turned her weapon to the remaining undead creatures behind her and toasted them to ashes.

"Here." Filia shoved the flamethrower into Martina's hands. "You take this."

"B-But what about you?" She was obviously not expecting dead humans to be resurrected.

"I've got my HMG and iron mace. I'll be fine." Filia smiled confidently and Martina just nodded. As the gypsy strapped the immense weapon to her back, Filia looked around for anymore enemies and heard several gun fires from the distance. It was from Zelgadiss and Amelia's direction at first then she heard the loud blasts of her tank. The robots were advancing at random.

"We can hold them for now… but for how long?" In the process of questioning aloud, Filia wasn't watching where she was stepping and took a step into a soft area of the ground thus broke through the dirt. She yelped when her entire body dropped straight down into the middle of a well dug-out tunnel beneath the ground. Martina crawled straight over, she was careful to not get sucked in like her partner.

"Filia!" She looked into the dark hole and thanks to the moon; she was able to make out Filia's hurt expression. "Filia, are you alright?" Martina called out to her and Filia responded with a slight groan. She fluttered her eyelids open and moved her head from side to side.

"I'm… fine." She mumbled and sat up to her elbows. Just when she did that, a low-pitch growl came from behind her head. Before Filia got a chance to look, a pair of rotten arms drew out from the darkness of the tunnel and grabbed her by around her neck.

"FILIA!" Martina screamed when her partner was pulled into the darkness of the tunnel. With full intent of following her, Martina was interrupted when she spotted a big mechanical being standing over her with the end of its sword pointed at her face. Expertly dodging the attack by tossing her body to the side, the robot followed the acrobatic woman across the dark field until she landed on top of its shoulders and stabbed her Sais deep into the robot's neck, decapitating it.

* * *

Filia twisted and turn as the zombie who had a hold of her dragged her through the dark tunnel. She was in the middle of kicking a pair of hands off her calves when she was pulled out of the tunnel and tossed to an open area. Filia picked herself off the ground and took her machine gun from her waist. Dragged far away from the forest and finding herself in the deserted mines outside of Saillune, Filia stared at the immense number of undead creatures around her. They should have known Hell Master was going use the dead humans to fight amongst them. Humans killing each other, it was all to sustain his sick and twisted pleasure in all of this. She began launching her rapid bullets and slaughtered a great number until she ran out of ammo.

"Fine." Filia dumped her trusty gun and switched to her handheld weapon. "I'm better at this one." She swung desperately with both hands. Smashing brainless heads to the ground and colliding collapsible skeletons with each other; it wasn't long when she started feeling the aftermath and without any stamina left, dropped to her knees. She looked up to see new dead clawing out of the ground and slowly making their way to her.

"Fuck." Filia spat her overused saliva to the ground and achingly forced herself to her feet. She was out of breath and absolutely exhausted. Lifting her mace high above her head, the heavy weight of the weapon tilted her balance and caused her to fall backwards. They were moving closer and closer, preying on the fresh flesh in front of them and Filia desperately tried to lift her weapon but with no success.

"FUCK." She cursed loudly and looked around for a lighter weapon. There was nothing.

"FUCK!" Nobody was around therefore she permitted the atrocious language to express oneself for this appropriate moment. Unfortunately for her, there was somebody around. Filia saw him when he stopped in front of her, facing her with a stern expression on his face. Her mouth dropped slightly from the shock and her eyes grew triple. She didn't acknowledge the fact the he just cut down the rest of the living undead and saved her, or that he had blood splattered everywhere on his clothes and held the decapitated head of Beast Master Zelas dangling in his hand.

* * *

The robot's head broke into pieces when her tiny fist burst through its skull and her thick legs swung over her own head to dodge the second robot's sword. Amelia landed on the tips of her feet and jabbed a hundred hits into a robot's chest until her fist went through.

"Zelgadiss!" She called out when she saw robots making their way past the heavy trees. Besides her, Zelgadiss sliced an enemy in half with his sword and turned his head to see the incoming array. Letting out a soft curse word, Zelgadiss grabbed Amelia's free hand and dragged her to their hiding spot behind a large boulder before they were spotted.

"We'll die if this keeps up." Amelia shuddered at the mention of death. "You need to set the blockade and barricade them out of this area." Zelgadiss took two flint rocks out of his inner jacket pocket and grabbed Amelia's hand; he placed the rocks in her palm. "You know what to do-"

"Zelgadiss." Amelia dropped the rocks to the ground so she can grasp Zelgadiss's face with both hands and stare straight at him with unblinking eyes. Within seconds, their lips were locked together and tongues tasting one another's mouths. "Z-Zel…" Their mouths separated and saliva dripped to their chins. Her lips shaking and tears already developing in her eyes, Amelia held on to him tightly.

"Don't die."

"You fool." Zelgadiss smiled at her innocent request and wiped away any hint of tears from her face. He kissed her chubby cheeks and gave her one last kiss on her lips again. "I already told you," Zelgadiss buried his nose into her hair to smell her scent. "The only thing that can kill me is you."

"Still…" Amelia whined. "Be careful." She gave his cheek one last caress before he ultimately left her side. Shooting rapid bullets from his revolvers, Zelgadiss caught the attention of all the robots in their area and averted them away. Amelia grabbed the flint stones from the ground and with all the energy she didn't waste, she sprinted away from the cave entrance and deep into the forest. Tumbling and tossing her tiny body to prevent getting seen, Amelia spotted the makeshift barrier made of thick bushels of sand and hay that ran across the forest floor and dove behind it. She clumsily tapped the two flint rocks together until finally catching the barrier on fire. The bright flame burned quickly through the hay and followed the trail of the barrier, making a ring of fire around the mountain. Amelia ran away as fast as she can now. She didn't know what will happen next. As the fire burned through the sand and hay, there was a secret dose of Lina's secret family gunpowder recipe under the stack and incorporated with it was a hint of active Lithium. Once the fire made contact with the Lithium, the color of the flames changed to black and it burned through the robot's metal skin and dissolved any Lithium that was inside. The black fire stopped more than enough of the robots from coming closer and it gave the humans more of a chance.

* * *

Xellos coughed out immense amount of blood as the weight over his chest became unbearable. Nearby Filia was watching, her hands covering her face partially. Her son was standing over Xellos, stabbing him repeatedly in his chest with a grin.

"You're killing him!" Filia shoved between him and Xellos, her upper body draped over Xellos's bleeding stomach and successfully stopped Val's attack.

"Move!"

"You're killing him!" She wrapped her long arms around Xellos's neck and continued to shield him. Still hurling blood from his mouth, Xellos choked loudly against Filia's chest, his eyes squeezing painfully. Snarling, Val pierced the tip of his golden sword through the ground beneath him and pointed angrily at the dying robot in his mother's arms.

"He's a murderer. He killed all those people. He killed my parents. He deserves to DIE-"

"Don't say that! It's not true-"

"HE FRAMED YOU WITH THE MURDERS, FILIA!" Val tried to remove Xellos from her arms. Filia held on tighter, her face pressed against Xellos's cheek. "LET HIM GO! HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE OUR LIVES A LIVING HELL! HE NEEDS TO DIE!"

"No… That's not…" Filia's soft voice cut through his screaming. "That's not true…"

~*~ Flashback ~*~

"When I heard that the Council had a job for us," Lina looked at the group of men and women that sat across the table. "I didn't expect this." In front of her, there was a sketching of a boy.

"Our sources tell us that the village has been working for the robots from the start and planning to use this child for future human exterminations." The head Council man leaned slightly forward. Unlike the other elderly members, the head man was young and tall with dark long hair and a beautiful face. "This child can possibly produce additional annihilation to the human kind. We need your expertise to seize the child and exterminate the village."

"And what are you planning to do with the child after we seize him? ARE YOU GOING TO KILL HIM TOO?" Filia barked at the end of the table. Instantly, Milgazia gave her a harsh glance, making her pin her lips together. The big room got silent. Lina sighed; she leaned her slender face against her knuckle and smiled slightly at the Council.

"I wonder," She chuckled softly. "Who told you this information? Who is this SOURCE?"

"Whom we get our information is none of your concern." One of the Council women snorted. "Do you and your heartless collection of killers agree to this assignment or shall we go to our next option?"

"What is your next option?" The leader of the killers asked. When none of them said anything, the redhead recovered her right hand from under the table and showed off her revolver. The Council stared at the sharp weapon in her hand and exchanged glances at each other, except for the young man. He kept his eyes still on the redhead's smirk. The silent threat worked and the older members of the Council revealed their secret.

"We discovered an assassin that will work for minimal pay. He will annihilate the village and retrieve the child for us."

"Minimal pay…" Lina scoffed. "What kind of monster would murder an entire village for minimal pay?"

"What kind of monster, indeed." The young leader said with a smile. Glancing at the man's expression, the woman with red hair stayed silent until one of the Council men tossed a rather large sack to the middle of the table. The opening of the sack spilled gold coins across the wooden plank.

"Obviously," Another scoffed. "You won't take minimal pay." Smirking at the comment made, Lina stood up from her chair while stuffing her revolver back into its holster.

"I heard enough." She turned away from the gold coins and the knowledgeable Council. "Find someone else to do your dirty work."

"Those robots are going to kill-"

"I have principles." Her hand waved nonchalantly near the side of her face, indifferent to the Council's words.

"Principles will not stop this war!" An elder Council man shouted in his seat. The redhead let out a high-pitch scoff and stuck her nose in air.

"And killing our own kind will not stop this war, either." Ushering her group to follow, the experienced league of killers walked out of high Council's office except for Filia. Just as she stepped out of the room and the double doors closed behind her, she slipped to the side and waited for her team to leave. Once her colleagues left her sight, Filia turned to the doors and pushed silently so she can peer through a small crack.

"Unpredictable." The elders of the Council exhaled. "Lina Inverse, the short-tempered and destructive huntress, refusing a great ton of money." As the elderly men and women turned to leave the room, their young leader stayed sitting on his seat. He sat silently in the dark room and waited patiently for his colleagues to leave the room. Finally, he was alone and turned his head to the side when a cheery voice chuckled from the dark corner of the room. The wide-eyed woman watched as a dark figure stepped out of the shadows and slowly made his way to the table. His back was turned to her and she couldn't make out anything except for the heavy chain links holding his wrists and ankles together. The man pulled out a chair from the table and sat down comfortably.

"You chuckled." The Council man said and the man in chains nodded.

"I did."

"Do you enjoy killing off your own kind?" He suddenly asked. The man in chains let out another chuckle and shrugged his shoulders.

"Those pompous old fools held me against my will for 12 years." The man said aloud. "12 years of living unaccompanied in a 10 by 8 prison cell in complete darkness." His body leaned slightly forward and the woman at the door saw long purple locks touching the sides of the man's face.

"12 years of lost sanity." The edge of the man's lips spread across to a large and wicked grin. "How do you know if I can still get the job done?"

"I believe you are capable." The head Council man revealed a small key made of iron and the man fidgeted in his seat. It was the key to his freedom. "Unless… you don't think so, human."

"Human?" Filia questioned softly and continued to listen. Glancing between the key between his fingers and the man's emotionless face, the man in the chains snorted lightly and lifted his hands to the table.

"Only the boy?"

"Dead or alive, it is essential for his body to remain unscathed." Throwing the small key to the man, he watched as the prisoner quickly began unlocking his wrists free. "Everyone else is insignificant."

"Will they be expecting me?" Finally free, the caged man massaged his sore wrists and ankles. "I mean, they ARE working with the robots."

"Are they now?" The Council man smirked evilly and his dark eyes released a bright red shine. Filia released a sharp gasp, both her hands clamped over her mouth to cover it. He was a robot.

~*~ Flashback ended ~*~

Val's eyes were wide as Filia spoke. "I thought… protect the village?" He asked softly.

"No. We were assigned to kidnap you and destroy the village," The woman released a crackling whine. "But Lina didn't take the job… She knew something suspicious was going on and she was right." She immediately broke into a dry choke. "The robots had infiltrated the Zephilia Council and that robot wanted you without any consideration for the other villagers."

"But y-you couldn't let him." He muttered with a weak smile.

"It was going to happen that night…" Filia shuddered. "While everyone was asleep, I went alone." She withdrew her face from Xellos's bloody neck and looked upon Val's expression. "However, when I got there, the extermination had already started." Her voice was low and monotone. "While innocent lives were being slaughtered around me-"

"Fi…" Xellos called out, his shaking hand grabbed Filia's shoulder. He wanted her to stop.

"So many people were dying…" Her voice was scratchy from the developing tears. Xellos watched with weakened eyes as the large rolls of water leaking down Filia's face. "And I didn't do anything…"

"I let them die." Filia kept talking as Xellos shook his head desperately. He gripped her shoulder, silently trying to make her stop talking.

"Then," Turning her head to look upon Xellos, she spoke softly through her large tears. "I saw you… with him."

~*~ Flashback ~*~

With her arms wrapped tightly around the young boy's body, this outsider held the boy against her bosom with her face pressed against the top of his head. He had a hood over his head, his face blocked in darkness and dressed in a black cloak that covered his entire body; it would be impossible for anybody to know his identity unless he revealed himself.

"Give me the boy." He tilted his weapon toward her head. Her eyes flung open when she saw the end of his Magnum moved closer to her face until it pressed fully in between her eyes.

"Please… Don't take him…" Almost instantly, the weight of the magnum felt heavier but it didn't trouble him. Annoyed by her thick hair that was covering her face; he reached over with his free hand and scooped several of the long strands away. The moment his fingertips touched the soft material, he knew he made his first mistake and paused abruptly. It reminded him of the tiny blanket that once covered him. He spent his wretched life within caged walls and his only companion was a piece of soft layer that kept him warm in his cold prison. Letting his fingers run through those gold threads reminded him of those feeble, vulnerable emotions.

"Take me… Not him." Her voice returned him to reality and he pulled quickly away from her golden hairs. She winced at his fast movement, releasing a louder whine. "PLEASE!"

"Give me," He dove his hand between their bodies and grabbed the little green-haired boy's forearm, making him cry out louder. "GIVE ME THE BOY!"

"No!" The boy's tiny hands gripped the woman's shirt and held onto her tightly.

"PLEASE, DON'T!" The woman tried to pull him back but the heartless murderer had already taken the boy out of her arms and immediately aimed his weapon straight at her. She froze at the sight of the large barrel handgun, her hair partially covering most of her expression, but the sight of the weapon didn't stop her.

"Please…" Even with the boy's loud wailing in the background, he could hear her shaking vocals. The woman was on her knees and palms, looking up at him. "Please, not him. Please, he is just a child-"

"He is not going to die." Locking the hammer mechanism on his gun, he wrapped his finger around the trigger and shoved the end of the barrel between her eye sockets. "But, you on the other hand… you will die."

The woman closed her eyes and awaited the bullet to go through her head. He was about to pull the trigger until a rush of cool air blew past their bodies and her long hair flew off her slender face allowing him to see her fully. The finger around the trigger froze from the sight of her. Soft pink lips partially open with her eyes closed, she was prepared to die. He stared at her through wide lens. Was she not going to plead for her life like everyone else did today?

"Promise me." His lungs ached for air; he didn't know when he stopped breathing. Opening her eyes to reveal bright golden orbs that matched her hair, the woman looked upon his hooded outfit. Her eyes tried to find his eyes; however all she saw was blackness. "He will be safe."

"N-No…" The young boy sobbed louder next to the man.

"P-Promise me." Her strong voice cracked slightly. "Promise me, please." Fresh tears trailed out of her gold eyes and dripped from her chin. Not even a single protest to keep her life, rather all she wanted was the boy to be safe. This boy was his key to freedom and he could care less what was awaiting the boy. All he cared about was being free… right?

Staring deep into her strong gaze and the tears that were flowing out from it, it was the first time he looked away. However, it was there he spotted a solution and without saying a word, he threw the sobbing boy back into the arms of the woman who broke his will. She held the boy tighter than ever, refusing to never let him go, but watched the executioner walk away to a pile of corpses nearby. Shoving several bodies out of his way, he stopped when he found the perfect sized little boy that looked the same age of the vessel. He picked the dead boy with jet black hair out of the pile and carried him over his shoulder. He had found another boy; scrawny with a smaller frame and pale skin.

"W-Why…?" The woman gasped out when he walked past her with the second selection. "Why did you…" As he turned around to face her, the angle of the moon revealed half of his face. Her eyes widen when the edges of his lips curled slightly, giving off a smirk.

"That's a secret." It was only shortly afterwards did Xellos's body failed to accept the Lithium and his desire for freedom was never realized.

~*~ Flashback ended ~*~

It was because of him that his home died. Val stared with disbelief at Filia and Xellos. It was finally revealed to him the truth of his past. The bounty hunters were assigned to destroy his home, his friends, and his life for the Council, only the Council was controlled by robots, by the Outlaw Four, and they needed his body. Why did they want his body? Was there something they needed from his body? What was wrong with his body?

"Val?" Filia reached her hand over and touched his cheek gently. He retaliated instantly at her touch. A hard hand smacked Filia across the face and sent her a few yards away. She dropped loudly against the ground, her back rubbed harshly against the dirt.

"Fi..." Xellos struggled. He cared less about the dark blood flowing out of his mouth and more about the woman laying on her side; she was not moving. He called out to her shakily but she was still not moving. Val stomped quickly over to his fallen adopted mother and grabbed the back of her head, lifting her forcefully off the dirt. Her eyelids fluttered open and looked upon the crazed teenager standing over her.

"What did they want with me?"

"Val…" Filia whispered out, her tears were still leaking out from the edges of her eyes. "Please-"

"WHAT DID THOSE ROBOTS WANT WITH ME?" He roared in anger. His eyes were filled with confusion, anger, and empty fulfillment.

"First vessel…" Whipping his head around, Val looked at Xellos. "You were the first vessel."

* * *

The black flames blocked the army from getting any closer to the Lithium mines. However, they had already crossed over a long time ago and were walking silently through the walkway of the large cave. Silently together, Pokota approached the final stone slab that he did not manage to open the last time and behind him, Hell-Master impatiently waited. Pokota looked upon the single stone piece and raised his right hand to unlock the slab. Except when he placed his hand on the stone, the meager door opened effortlessly. His eyes slightly widen. It was already open.

"Move." Hell-Master did not notice and shoved past him. Following after him, Pokota stopped next to Hell-Master at the sight of the large fragments of Lithium crystals sticking out from every part of the cave. From the walls, ceilings, ground, and every corner, the rock formations rose out the solid surface and flickered lively hues of different colors. With every twinkle of light, a soft hum echoed throughout the cave, creating a forgiving song that cringe the emotions within.

"Impressive." Hell-Master gasped from beneath his breath. Pokota watched him released a growing laugh, his back hunching back and forth to support his balance. His laughter ceased eventually and he looked at Pokota with a devilish grin.

"Eternal life is a privilege." Lowering himself to one knee, the man in Gourry's body reached down to touch the sharp tip of an extending crystal. "And I deserve this grand privilege." Just as his fingertips grazed against the sharpness of the crystal, it was unexpectedly shattered by a swift bullet. Hell-Master whipped his head around and spotted the smoking revolver standing behind Pokota.

* * *

The blade of the golden sword pierced through Xellos's stomach and the ground beneath him, he cringed at the penetration but continued to laugh weakly.

"What's so funny?" Val swiped the Magnum that Xellos held weakly in his hand. He pulled back the locking mechanism on the long revolver and aimed it at the center of Xellos's chest. Still laying on her side, Filia struggled to get off the ground. Both cheeks bruised and her left shoulder bleeding from a previous attack from Val, Filia flipped her loose hair out of her face at the sound of the lock.

"After this," Val's finger wrapped around the trigger, "You won't be able to come back."

"About… time." Xellos chuckled breathlessly. Snarling loudly, Val tugged on the trigger and set free a loud gunshot.

"NO!" Filia screamed out, her hand reaching out towards Xellos. The bullet had already pierced through his chest and it was an instant murder shot.

"No, no, no!" Swiftly shuffling her way through the dirt, Filia staggered to Xellos's side and grabbed his thin shoulders.

"Xellos." She shook him gently at first. "Xellos!" With no response, she violently shook him. "XELLOS!" She shrieked so sharply that the forest resonate her voice throughout it. His heavy bangs blocked his expressionless face, the growing cold and paleness of his skin made Filia withdraw her hands.

"N-No…" She tucked her curled fingers under her chin, her throated clogged with tightness. He was finally gone. Filia let out a roaring bawl and covered her wet face with her hands, her body curled forward and rested on Xellos's shoulder. Snorting, Val grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled the sharp blade out of its hold. He placed the pointy tip of the blade next to Filia's shaking head and smirked.

"He saved you…" Filia sobbed through her fingers. "He sacrificed being human so you can live…"

"He only prolonged my death." Turning her head to look upon his face, Filia met the crazed red eyes of her once-beloved son. A wicked smile spread across his pale face.

"Are you going to kill me, Val?" Filia questioned and his smile flashed his teeth. "Who else are you going to kill? Are you going to kill Lina and Zelgadiss?" She moved her body around and faced him. "What about Amelia, are you going to kill her too?"

"If I'm not allowed to live as a human or a robot," Val shoved the sword's edge against her trembling neck. "Then nobody else can." He moved so close to her skin that his weapon made her bleed.

"Oh, Val…" Filia whined. "When did I lose you?" Closing her eyelids, Filia lowered her head while Val pulled back his sword, getting ready to decapitate her.

"When you lied to me!" He swung and expecting to slice her head clean off, Val gasped when his sword was stopped by the sharp edge of a sword that was doused in black flames.

"Boy," Zangulas forcefully raised their weapons away from Filia's head; he glared murderously at the teenager. "You better have a damn good explanation for this."

"Zangulas!" Filia grabbed Zangulas's pants leg. "Don't fight him!"

"Yeah, Zangulas," Val chuckled softly. Shoving their swords apart, Val jumped back a length away and twirled his sword playfully on his side. "Don't fight me." Zangulas shook Filia's hands off his leg and aimed his blazing black sword at Val.

"In honor of my birth right, I pledge to only wield my blade for righteousness." Walking slowly in a circle with Val at his opposite, Zangulas glanced quickly at the long dark scar that ran across Val's right shoulder and back at his face.

"Have you truly lost your sanity, boy?" Without an answer to give, Val merely shrugged his shoulder. Zangulas snorted and quickly, they began clashing their weapons at each other. Filia was in the midst of watching when Milgazia grabbed her shoulders from behind, scaring her lightly.

"Come on." He beckoned her and together, they dragged Xellos's wounded body away from the aggressive sword duel and into a thick area with heavy bushes.

"Filia." Milgazia saw Filia grasp Xellos's pale face and openly sobbed against his cheeks. "F-Filia…" Repeatedly, she kissed his cold lips and chin. "Fi…"

"Xellos…" Filia whined aloud. She hugged the lifeless being's head to her bosom and lovingly petted his purple hair. "I-I knew it was you… I just… I just knew…" Milgazia watched the woman he loved smother someone else and after a while, his dry lips drew into a small and weak smile.

"You… You love him, don't you?" He asked and Filia released a louder cry. Milgazia chuckled at her childish response and raised his hand to his chest. It was beating, but it was beating feathery. He was planning to use the last minutes of his life to run away with her and die happily in her arms, just like he always wanted. However, seeing that Filia would've just declined him again, he had another idea to use his final moments.

"He's not really dead." Milgazia told her and lifted her body away from Xellos. "His entire body is mechanical. It is his heart that needs to be replaced."

"His heart?" Filia blinked the tear droplets out of her eyes. He nodded and taking her hands, he placed them perfectly over his chest making her feel the last beatings of his heart. Quickly, she realized what he meant and shook her head immediately.

"No, Sempai, I can't-"

"You love him." Milgazia strongly said and caught her watery eyes in his. "And I would do anything… to make you happy." Placing a dagger in her palm, Milgazia released her hands and lay down besides Xellos's thin body. Filia sat between their bodies, her breathing heavier than before.

"P-Please, Milgazia… Don't make me do this." Her entire body trembled.

"Xellos brought me back by sacrificing his heart." Milgazia reached over and cupped her wet cheek. He caressed her gentle face with his fingertips as a happy smile developed. "It's about time I give it back to him." Shaking hands and blurry vision from her tears, Filia touched the tip of the dagger onto Milgazia's chest and shuddered with hesitation.

"Do it now." The dirty blonde ordered and kept both eyes wide open, so the last thing he'd see is his true love. Filia released a breath of reluctance and swallowed her last wad of overused spit down her throat. With a loud grunt, Filia pierced the dagger into Milgazia's rotting chest and cut around where his heart would be. He cringed but continued to leave his eyes open and his mouth smiling. After peeling the crinkled flesh off and breaking the protective bones around the organ, Filia was face to face with the living heart in Milgazia's chest. Quickly, Filia did the same with Xellos's chest and threw out his wasted heart in the bushes. All she needed to do was transfer the organ from one body to the other and hopefully, Xellos will come alive.

"Fi… lia…" Milgazia painfully called for her. Face-to-face, Filia and Milgazia stared at one another until a tear drop leaked from the edge of Milgazia's eye. "I… love…"

"I know." Filia smiled weakly and touched his clammy cheek. "I love you too." Milgazia scoffed lightly, his face quivering in her hands.

"L-Liar." Finally shutting his eyes, Milgazia prepared himself to see his fellow dead colleagues again and was truly happy to receive the warmth of Filia's lips as the final touch before his passing. Fast hands and holding her breath back, Filia transferred the lukewarm bloody organ into Xellos's hallow chest and waited. She waited for it to beat, to move, to do anything but it laid still.

"Do… DO SOMETHING!" Filia screamed at the heart and yet, it did nothing. Grabbing her scalp with frustration, she tried to think what she needed to do to and began searching Xellos's pockets in desperation, hoping that he had something. Then, her fingers touched a solid and cylinder container. It was an empty vial. Almost immediately, Filia shuffled through her own pants pockets and found exactly what she was looking for. It was the two syringes filled with liquid active Lithium that Xellos had given her.

_"Take these."_

_"What are these?"_

_"Inside each dart, there is a liquid capsule. The instant it lands on the target, the liquid will be released and the dart will explode within seconds thus burning anything the liquid touched. To kill a robot powered by Lithium, you need to use Lithium."_

If it took Lithium to rise and kill a robot, will it be able to revive a Cyborg back to life? Fuck it, Filia concluded and jabbed the thick needle into the stony heart anyway.

* * *

Lina glared at Hell-Master, the man in Gourry's body. She walked around the spiky crystals carefully as she held her revolver confidently out. Stepping over a flooded area, Lina glanced at the tiny robot with her deathly eyes. Pokota gulped at her intense stare and shamefully lowered his head.

"How did you get in here?" Hell-Master snarled. "No one can enter this cave, except for him!" Lina smirked at his outburst and motioned her head to the side; both of the men turned their heads simultaneously and spotted the older gentleman in colorful robes sitting on a block of rock.

"Pops." Pokota gasped. Chief Taforashia sat with a hunch, his hands folded on his lap and his eyes filled with sorrow. "How… How did-"

"He is the only one who you will listen too." Lina answered and swiftly pass Pokota's eyes to get in front of Hell-Master. Hell-Master smirked at her, he raised his hand to his hip where the Dragon Slave was located and Lina let out a soft laugh.

"I would think twice." And moved the end of her revolver toward the corner of the cave. Following the angle of the weapon, Hell-Master discovered the abundant of exposed wires and explosives laced everywhere around the clusters of crystals. She had the entire cave set to detonate and he was in the middle of it.

"Go on, Chief." Lina spoke toward the old man with her full attention on Hell-Master. Sighing, Chief Taforashia shook his head dejectedly and looked back at Pokota again.

"My son," It felt like a long time since someone called him that and Pokota didn't know whether he liked it or not. "What are you afraid of?"

"I…" Pokota cringed in his eyes. "I'm not… I'm not human-"

"That should not matter." Slipping his body off the boulder, the Chief shuffled his way over to his robotic son and stopped in his way. "You are who you are. And, my son, you are benevolent, clever, and much-loved." His rough hand reached up and grabbed Pokota's shoulder.

"You are not a monster. You are my son." He raised his eyes to meet with his father. Chief smiled and Pokota reacted.

"I don't believe you." Pokota muttered. Chief Taforashia's eyes widen when the tiny teen shoved his heavy hand off his shoulder and glared forcefully at him. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

"Pokota, what-"

"I AM NOT YOUR SON!" Pushing away from his body, Pokota grabbed the revolver strapped to his waist and held it ready to use. The Chief glanced between the shaking weapon in hand and the boy's twisted expression, a soft sigh left from his lips.

"What is sovereignty?" He stood his ground, his hands clasped together over his round stomach. Pokota looked at him strangely, but with anger still blocking his view. "Sovereignty is courage and will power. It is self-preservation and great strength from within."

"It is the yearning of dominance and of being dominated." Leaning slightly forward, Chief Taforashia's gentle eyes glinted as he stared deeply upon Pokota. "Of wanting to belong, though unable to stay."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"You have not been studying." The older man retracted with a sigh and changed the subject. "Do what you will. Just remember, it's the results of your actions in this life that will take you to your final destination, my son-"

"I TOLD YOU. I AM NOT YOUR SON." Pokota pulled the hammer of his revolver, his chest heaving rapidly in and out. Silently questioning Chief's methods, Lina frequently looked over with her revolver still aiming the exposed wires.

"I never believed you when you say that you loved me." From his green eyes, large rolls of water began flowing down. "You loved your human son, not this mechanical abomination. You never loved me." Chief opened his mouth to deny him, except Pokota had already shot him in the chest. Lina screamed out to Chief Taforashia when he landed backwards on the ground, her eyes away from her prey for one second. In this clear opening, Hell-Master swung his arm across and slapped the revolver from Lina's hands. Whilst the revolver spun to the cave floor, he effortlessly caught it mid-air and shoved the gun to Lina's forehead stopping her immediately. Hell-Master's lips curled into a wicked smile and tug of his finger, released a bullet.

* * *

He didn't know how he got stranded with her but there she was. Standing back to back, Martina and Zelgadiss stood in the middle of the woods, completely surround by the dead and various robots. Ammo gone, sword bent, and his right shoulder bleeding from a deadly robot attack, Zelgadiss was spent. As his body dropped to the dirt, Martina let out a loud screech and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him like a doll.

"GET UP! YOU NEED TO GET ME OUT OF THIS!" She screamed but Zel's head hung tiredly low. Martina continued to shake him until she heard loud stomping behind her. Turning her neck slowly around, her entire body jumped at the sight of the monstrous robotic being standing over her.

"GET UP, YOU PIN-CUSHION, MUTANT-LOOKING, PERVERT!" Her screeching rattled irritably into Zelgadiss's earlobe and he raised his head to glare murderously at her.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! YOU ARE MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE!" With every loud stomp, Martina and Zelgadiss watched the gigantic mechanical monster slowly made its way over. Its canon arm lowered and aimed directly in front of Zelgadiss's angry face. Holding him tightly around his shoulders, Martina buried her frightened expression against the back of Zelgadiss's neck, letting out loud pleadings as Zelgadiss fearlessly scowled at the robot. At the sound of the canon arm getting ready, his eyes quickly shut and waited for the bullets. Rapid sounds of bullets were heard immediately and so was the loud roar of the Justice Enforcer.

Amelia released a whole clip of bullets across the field. She roared at full volume as the heavy machine gun in her arms shook her tiny body along with it. The roar was to distract her enemies and from the excitement of shooting for the first time, the HMG was 'borrowed' from Milgazia, and the dangling sawed-off shotgun against her back was also 'borrowed' but from Lina. Zelgadiss and Martina's mouth dropped wide open, they watched Amelia blow through another clip and throw down the empty, smoking weapon to the ground.

"PACIFIST FIST!" The bullets had shattered the giant robot's outer shell and it was Amelia's sharp fist that tossed the robot to its demise. Using the shotgun, she blasted away the remaining dead folks around and kicked the last of the robots to the ground, smashing its head into pieces. Amelia heavily panted in front of the two and turned around to face them when Martina called her name. Her chubby cheeks were covered in dirt with hair tussled wildly in her face, the long sleeved shirt was ripped to a tank top and showed off her shaped abdomen, and her long pants was shredded into short pants. Zelgadiss let out a soft breaking sound from the back of his throat and fidgeted slightly forward.

"I just came." He said aloud and instantly, Martina moved away from him with great disgust. Amelia smiled sweetly, giving her love a deep blush, and twisted her head around when she heard loud chatter of robots coming through the forest.

"Come on!" Amelia grabbed Zelgadiss's side while Martina grabbed his other, lifting him easily by their shoulders. With Amelia leading the way, the trio rushed away from the sounds until they got to the large roaring black fire blocking their way.

"They're coming closer!" Martina whined, her body bouncing as the overgrown crowd of robots made its way over. Stepping away from Zelgadiss, Amelia stood bravely in front of the mob and extended her right arm in the air.

"What are you doing? WE NEED TO RUN-"

"Keep quiet." Amelia snapped at Martina. It was then; Zelgadiss saw an unfamiliar attractiveness that he never realized in her.

"ARE WE SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO STAND HERE AND NOT RUN? THOSE THINGS ARE COMING TO KILL US!" The Gypsy cried and Zelgadiss hushed her.

"Trust her." He said as he stared at the back of Amelia's head. "She knows what she is doing." Step by step, the enemy moved closer and closer. Just as the robots were a few feet away, Amelia smirked and quickly brought her arm down.

"NOW!" She screamed out and from behind the black blazing flames, waves upon waves of burning arrows unleashed into the air and flew above the trio's heads. The projectiles entered the relentless bodies of the robots and instantly enveloped them into black mass of fire.

"ONWARD, MEN!" It was the voice of the mighty leader, Philionel Saillune. Jumping over the fire with other Taforashia warriors, Phil landed next to Amelia and roared his troops to battle. As Martina was led away to safety, Amelia went to Zelgadiss's side and helped him to his feet only to be stopped by him.

"Zel?" She questioned and saw the developed smile on his face.

"Amelia," Zelgadiss chuckled lightly and pressed their dirty foreheads together. "You'll make a great huntress."

* * *

Val glared at the cone dagger that he had caught mid-air. Clenching it into pieces, he looked at the man who threw the deadly weapon at him. His shirt removed and chest pounding proudly away with a new heart, Xellos smiled. Next to his feet, Zangulas lay badly wounded and barely clinging to life. Going to Zangulas's side, Filia picked him off the ground easily and shouted for Xellos.

"Come on! Let's go!" But Xellos refused to move. He stood his ground in front of Val, his piercing amethyst eyes glaring murderously. He was only drawn away to look upon the decapitated head of his previous master nearby.

"XELLOS!" Filia screamed. "LET'S GO!"

"Take Zangulas-San away to safety." Xellos finally looked at her, Filia's eyes slightly widen at the familiar smile on Xellos's face. It was the same smile he gave her that night. "He is terribly hurt and may die."

"B-But Xellos… I…"

"Go on, Fi-Chan, leave me-"

"STOP PROTECTING ME!" Filia shouted and the purple-haired man raised his eyebrows. "WHY DO YOU KEEP PROTECTING ME? JUST LET ME DO-" Her shouts were immediately cut short by Xellos's lips. Slowly, Xellos released her trembling mouth and stared at her wet eyes.

"I promise you," Xellos held her slim face in his hands. "I'll come back to you, Filia." Filia struggled to breathe, her tears troubling her to see Xellos. Although reluctant, Filia nodded and took Zangulas off the ground. Xellos watched her run away and kept watching her until she was well out of sight.

"You won't be fulfilling that promise." Val growled from behind. Xellos smirked and turned around to face him.

"I'm a murderer, not a liar."

* * *

Hell-Master walked around the fallen Bandit Killer, uncaring of the pool of blood developing near his feet. He glanced at the old man on the ground and smiled at the heavily panting robot.

"I didn't think you had it in you-"

"Shut up." Pokota raised the revolver and aimed it at him now. His eyebrow lifted at Pokota's sudden turn of events.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm only insuring my own survival." The small robot said in a shaking voice. Hell-Master snorted and began to laugh loudly.

"Then, shoot!" He opened his long arms out, making himself defenseless to Pokota's gunshot. "Shoot me down and try to get rid of me!" Pokota's eyes twitched from his open laughter and lowered his revolver in defeat.

"Even with a clear shot, you are too weak and inadequate to make an attempt to kill me." Hell-Master grinned. "You feeble, insufficient, pitiful machine. Don't you recognize true sovereignty when you see it? I am what sovereignty is. I am its true meaning." Turning his body to the nearest Lithium crystal, Hell-Master's eyes ignited with madness as he gazed at the humming shine.

"I am the guardian of this world." And as his fingertips touched the sharp tips of the crystals, he stopped when he heard the clicking of a revolver's hammer being pulled down. Behind him, Pokota had his gun raised again but this time; it was aiming at his own temple.

"Without me," Pokota smirked. "You won't be able to get back inside of this cave."

"I will just keep it open."

"Don't you remember?" The Mohawk teen chuckled. "I closed the entrance of the cave behind us. You won't be able to get out unless you have me to open it for you."

"I'll just use this." Hell-Master patted his hand over the Dragon Slave.

"Did you actually believe I had the balls to steal from the great Bandit Killer?" Pokota asked with a cocky grin. "I wouldn't steal from Lina even if my life depended on it!"

"Then, what the hell do I have here?" The master of the world grabbed the ultimate weapon off his hip and shook it.

"A replica." Pokota told him and Hell-Master broke the fake weapon in his hand into fragments.

'You DARE to taunt ME?" Pokota didn't answer, he just kept smiling. Breaking into light chuckling, Hell-Master let out a loud scoff and folded his arms across his chest. "You won't do it. You are too afraid."

"Afraid?" Lowering the end of the weapon to his chest, Pokota pulled the tight trigger and blasted a single bullet through his abdomen. Shocked, Hell-Master stared at him as he stood without a reaction. "Why should I be afraid of a bullet when I don't feel it?" The end of the revolver traveled back to his temporal skull. "It's because I'm a robot and nothing can kill me but myself." Getting ready, Pokota pulled the hammer once again and chuckled.

"I wonder if I will feel anything when I die?" Before he could get his finger to wrap around the trigger, Hell-Master was standing in front of him with his hand clasped around Pokota's throat and thrusting him roughly at the smoothest and lest crystal wall in the cave. The revolver in Pokota's hand dropped to the ground from his sudden attack, Hell-Master's smile finally broke into a line of anger.

"At last," Gourry's body snarled. "You are acting like a robot." Pokota struggled in the hold; he tried to kick his legs up but to no success. He gasped when Hell-Master dipped his head down and their foreheads bumped against each other, his mouth was just a hairline away.

"If you are unwilling to cooperate with your master, I am left with only one option." Glancing down at Pokota's front side, he used his strong free hand to inspect the sculpture of the teen's body. Pokota squirmed wildly under his touch. He couldn't feel his hand moving across his abdomen or the top of his manhood but he could see the pleasure that this wicked monster was getting from touching him.

"A fully mechanical body." Hell-Master ran his open hand over Pokota's right inner thigh and between his legs, where he fiddled with the ties of Pokota's pants. "You will make a fine candidate."

"F-Fine candidate?" Pokota repeated with hesitation and without warning, Hell-Master shoved their mouths together. His arms and legs fought wildly to shove him off but Hell-Master's hold on his neck made it impossible for him to move freely. Inside of his mouth, Pokota could hear the scrapping of an imposter invading his mouth. It moved against the top of his teeth and to the sides of his gums, exploring every cavity within his oral area. And his free hand, it was touching him all over his body. Grasping and cupping areas of his body that no one had ever done before. Seeming like forever, Hell-Master roughly pulled his tongue out of Pokota's broken mouth and smiled evilly at him.

"No, you will make a perfect candidate." It was as if Hell-Master was analyzing his body through that kiss and touch, making perfectly certain that he was the perfect candidate. Pokota's eyes widen when he finally realized what he meant and tried everything to twist away from Hell-Master's grip but failed. He screamed defiantly as Hell-Master forced him to re-open the entrance of the cave and continued to scream when Hell-Master carried him over his tough shoulder and ran over the eternal black flames surrounding the hill. Amelia and Zelgadiss turned their heads just in time to see Hell-Master jumping over their heads with Pokota screaming for desperate help. They only saw a glimpse of the teenager's fearful expression before losing sight of him and saw a brand new sight following quickly afterwards.


	30. Chapter 30 My Loving Weakness

Chapter 30 - My Loving Weakness

A bloodstained weapon dropped heavily to the ground with a slight bounce. There was body parts randomly scattered, painting the dirt with large pools of blood. The rusty blade dragged across the bloody battlefield, passing the limbs and torso of the slain. Slowly, the blade was pulled past a decapitated head. The tip of the sharp weapon caught the tangled long hairs and towed the entire head along with it. The severed head tumbled awkwardly against the gravelly ground until it revealed the broken expression of Deep Sea Dolphin. The woman dragging the weapon kept moving, indifferent to the passenger that she had snagged. She pathetically staggered through the open cemetery, hobbling like a child on her first walk, there was multiple deep cuts on her own slim figure. Eventually, her weak legs gave up and she fell hard on the ground.

"Fuck…" Luna grumbled faintly. With lasting strength, she pushed against the dirt to roll to her side then to her back. She let out a loud sigh of relief; it was due time she got to relax. And through her thick maroon bangs, she watched the dark clouds develop above her. It was strange. She never took the time to look at the clouds when she was alive but after she died and Xellos brought her back, Luna couldn't stop observing. It was perhaps instinct since viewing those heavenly clouds is the closest she is ever going to be to get there.

"Heaven sounds good…" Luna chuckled. "But… Hell sounds better." Reaching into her pocket, Luna gathered the silk material within. Her fingers tangled with the white hair ribbon and lifted it to her head. It was physically draining to tie this irritating gift that her brat sister had given her, but she wanted it on for her final dress wear. Once she had it tied securely and her bangs were pulled high away from her face, Luna happily showed off her dark red eyes that Lina once said she loved. Dropping her heavy arms next to her head, she stared at the dark and stormy skies until she was unexpectedly bothered.

"Are you finished?" Sitting on top of a broken coffin that was erupting from the ground, Greater Beast Master Zelas had her tan legs crossed elegantly and arms holding her body from falling on her back. In her mouth, there was a long piece of diamond holding a cigarette at the end. Luna moved her pupils to the corner of her eyes and watched Zelas wave flirtatiously with her manicured fingertips.

"You come to gloat?"

"Somebody has too." Zelas giggled. She blew out a large puff of smoke through her nostrils and tilted her head to the side, analyzing Luna's revealed face. "She looks like you."

"We look like our mother." It was as if she wasn't hurt at all, Luna sat up from the ground and easily got up to her feet. She stretched her long arms over her head and folded them behind her neck, breathing the air deeply around her. Looking up at the developing dark clouds, Luna could see a small opening between the formation of the clouds and a bright light shining down to illuminate a rainbow.

"With a bit of luck, we'll get up there." Luna muttered just as Zelas approached her side from behind.

"Doubtful." Zelas snorted and withdrew the diamond cigarette holder from her lips while walking past Luna. As she walked away, Luna looked over her shoulder. Lying on the bloody ground with her eyes still open, there was her motionless body observing the skies above and the white ribbon keeping the hair out of her slender face. A wide smile spread across the spirit's face and gratefully joined her companion for an eternity of damnation.

* * *

The straps held Pokota tight against the steel table preventing him from fleeing away. Every segment of his body was stabbed deeply with long and thick wires that connected to a large machine between his and Hell-Master's body. His enlarged eyes amplified when Hell-Master made a deep cut on his forearm, releasing a waterfall of deep red blood and splashing it carelessly onto the machine's open compartment.

"I meant to get this destroyed." Liberally allowing the blood to flood over the machine, Hell-Master glanced at Pokota and smiled to see his terrified expression. "However, I knew complications will arise with this vessel."

"W-What's going to happen to me?" Pokota fearfully whined while Hell-Master stabbed the other set of connecting wires to his own body, one by one.

"You'll be fortunate enough to take this powerful vessel that you call 'Gourry'." Removing his long black jacket to show off his shaped abdomen, Hell-Master plugged the last set of wires into his naked arms. "And I will obtain your perfect vessel."

"I won't let you!" The small robot wriggled in his straps.

"It doesn't matter how much you resist. You have already succumbed to me." A horrifying laughter escaped the man's lips and he happily flipped the red switch to activate the machine. Sharp intense pain was the first sensation Pokota felt and it traveled throughout his entire body. He detested this discomfort that spread from his toes to fingertips to the top of his head. His body rattled harshly on the steel table to the point where he dented the solid surface. Then came a feeling that Pokota was quite familiar with: Betrayal. This feeling was greater than the pain that he suffered through. It tested his mental state, repeatedly beating cruel testimonials deep within his psyche. He betrayed his people, his friends, and his own father. He SHOT his father down in the chest. The man gave meaning, gave compassion, and gave what other fathers would rarely give their children, acceptance. Taforashia loved his son and when he died, he created Pokota and accepted him for what he was. He accepted that he was not his real son, accepted him as a robot and loved him for that. It was his final consciousness and before his eyes, Pokota entered the blackness that he habitually came across with, Fear.

* * *

Loud sobbing resonated within the confines of the dark limitless chamber. Floating aimlessly in that dark space, curled in a fetal position, Pokota reflected the pure terror that bore into his very skin. The pain he felt hurt him, the betrayal he caused hurt others, and the fear was overwhelming. Pokota believed he was aiding others, helping the human race from going extinct however he was too afraid to feel the pain that comes from a fight. Then, he betrayed those who believed in him. The people he deserted in Taforashia who proudly looked upon him as their leader, the friends he bonded with and spoke true to him, and the man who loved him unconditionally. He betrayed them all because of the fear of losing the life that they help create. They were more than responsible for constructing his blissful life, they were the reason why he wanted to live and the reason he feared. He wanted to live among them, live pleasantly like a human and feel things that he never felt before. Pokota wanted to do so many human things but he couldn't, his existence wouldn't allow him. However, it allowed him to have the same fate as a human. He was capable of dying and it was unfair. So many different components between robot and human, and yet, one component made them alike. How dare the universe make them so different and in the end, send him to wither into death's hand like a human? He never felt the warmth that comes from a burning camp fire. He never experienced a tight hug from a lover. He never touched a waxy petal of a flower or the feel of the wind splashing against his face. He was powerless to those simple tasks and it was unjust. He wasn't permitted to receive pleasant human virtues so why was it expected of him to die like one? Pokota should not be the one to die, it should be the humans. They were able to feel warmth from a camp fire, hug one another, touch a tender flower, and feel the wind; they were able to do those wonderful things, so they deserve to die, not him. He deserved to live forever.

"Are you going to keep crying," A female voice joined him in the darkness. "Or are you going to take a drink?" By noticing her, Pokota discovered that he was sitting in a stool, behind a bar table in a familiar dark tavern setting. In his hand, there was a glass of scotch with three cubes of ice and sitting next to him was Lina.

"I don't drink." He choked through heavy tears.

"You should." The redhead tipped her class of scotch to her lips and took a steady drink. He watched her express happily with an exhale what a fabulous drink that was. Twirling the alcohol in her hand, Lina stared at the colored liquid as she spoke to him.

"There are countless questions that everyone asks about life."

"Y-You mean humans-"

"I mean everyone, you idiot. And shut up, it's rude to interrupt a maiden." She snapped at him. "Those questions are hard to answer, even for me." Lina continued and placed the glass cup on the wooden bar table. "What is the meaning of life? Why do we live for such a short time? And, the hardest question of all; is there something after this life?" The final question made Pokota squirm in his seat. Lina noticed and curled her lips into a smile.

"There is that one question too." She turned in her stool so he can look at her grin. "Do we really have a choice?"

"Well, do we?" Lina questioned again since Pokota said nothing.

"No… we don't."

"That's right. We don't have a choice. We're all going to die, so we better get used to the idea." She nodded. That didn't help Pokota at all; it just created more tears in his eyes.

"Look," Lina reached over and grabbed his shoulder, shaking his body slightly. "Everyone fears for death, even I am afraid of what happens when I die." She honestly told him and Pokota swore she trembled for a second. "But, I am more fearful of an inadequate life, rather than death itself."

"Pokota, I never got to tell Gourry how I truly feel and I probably never will." Raising her hand to his face, she wiped the tears away from one side. "I never got to apologize to my older sister and tell her that I love her. Not even once." Lina moved her hand to the other side of his face and dried the leaking water gently.

"There are so many things that I never got to do." She stopped cleaning him and rested her hand back to his shoulder. Pokota and Lina stared deeply at each other, his face clean of tears and dirt. Suddenly, Lina smiled sweetly at him and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry your little mechanical ass. You'll be fine." She chuckled.

"How do you know that for sure?" Pokota quickly spoke. "How can you know something that you are so unsure of? How can you believe in it if you don't even know that it exists? How can you tell me that I'll be fine when I am clearly NOT FINE? How can you-" His mouth suddenly stopped moving from Lina's fingers. Her three fingers pinned his lips from coming apart and with a smile, she leaned forward. Pokota's eyes widen at the contact of her own mouth touching his forehead. In this realm, he can feel. He can feel the softness of her tender lips brushing on his high forehead and hotness erupted over his face from it. Lina removed her lips slowly away from him and met with his enlarge eyes.

"I believe in you, Pokota." Lina unclasped his mouth. "You can handle the rest."

"L-Lina…" He was speechless. Getting off her stool, Lina left his side at the bar and started to walk away from him, the tavern vanished around him. From the farthest reach of the darkness, a blinding white light slipped through the cracks of the room and broke away at the crumbling shadow around him. As the light overpowered the dark, Lina stopped walking and looked back at his appalled expression.

"Where are you going?" Then Lina's body began to shine like the Lithium crystals. "No! Don't leave me alone, Lina!" He started to run to her.

"Why are you still crying?" Lina angrily grumbled but smiled suddenly. "I told you, didn't I? I believe in you." Pokota reached his hand out to grab her, to prevent her from leaving. The growing light overlooked Lina's thin frame and just when his fingertips was just a hairline away from her face, the white light took her and the darkness away from him. Pokota dropped harshly onto a solid ground, his body made a loud impact with the white color.

"LINA!" Pokota desperately called for her. He rose from the ground swiftly and looked around him. There was nothing but whiteness. Lina took the darkness with her when she left him. He was no longer in the darkness like he wanted, but he was still alone.

"LINA! COME BACK!" He called her again with so much despair. "DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"You're not alone." It was from behind him. Pokota's entire body jerked into submission, his eyes widening into saucers. Eventually, he slowly turned around and stared at the boy. It was the real Pokota Korba Taforashia.

He stood in different clothes. The robotic Pokota had a beaded sleeveless shirt with leather breechcloth and leggings, while the real Pokota wore dark navy overalls and a white long-sleeve V-neck top. There were smudges of black dirt across the human boy's one cheek and fingertips; it didn't camouflage his pale skin however. He had a long Mohawk and gold hoop earring as well, but unlike the robot, this human had a smile on his face. They stared at each other until the human took several steps to get closer. He reached in front of the robot and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, this confirmed that he was real. Pokota still couldn't believe it. How was he seeing him? He's supposed to be dead, unless…

"No, you're not dead." He told him. The already big smile grew larger. "You are somewhere in between."

"O-Oh…" The robot chuckled wearily and carefully looked at the boy in front of him. "Are you… somewhere in between too?"

"No, I'm dead." He said rather carefree-like.

"Then, how am I seeing you?"

"I don't know." The boy honestly said and narrowed his eyes in great annoyance. "Are you going to question everything, because it's already getting annoying…"

"Sorry." Pokota didn't know why he was apologizing but he was.

"You don't have to apologize." The human let his shoulder go and walked around him with his arms folded behind his head, Pokota watched after him. "I get annoyed easily by too many questions. I don't like answering questions." He took a few steps away before stopping and looking back at the robot, who was still motionless.

"Well?" The boy raised his eyebrow. "Are you coming or what?"

"Coming?" Pokota repeated. "Where are we going?"

"I don't have all the answers, you know." Human Pokota rolled his eyes.

"Then, why are we moving? Why can't we just stand here and talk?"

"Because I don't like standing around," The annoyed human grumbled. "I'd rather keep moving on, than staying in the same place."

"What's wrong with staying in the same place?" Pokota angrily said. The two boys glared at one another, each of them completely annoyed by the other.

"You don't get anywhere!" The human barked. "If this place was raining and neither one of us had any shelter-"

"Both of us would be wet!" Pokota finished with a yell.

"But I'll keep moving on and eventually I'll find shelter from the rain!" Turning angrily to the robot, the human pointed at his lookalike with a broad dirty finger. "And you'll be here all alone, doing nothing but talking to yourself!" Pokota jolted at this boy's sudden remark. Would he really just be talking to himself? He lowered his head when he realized, wasn't he already doing that? Lina said she had a greater fear of having an inadequate life, than death itself. And Gourry, he said a similar thing. If he died, he would die happy because he had no regrets; all his regrets and guilt had vanished after seeing his friends again. Lina and Gourry lead wonderful and short lives, full of adventure. What about him?

"Geez," The boy's finger lowered and he let out a groan. "I need to learn how to control my temper. Pops always said I had the worst temper." Looking over Pokota, he smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's why he was careful building you. He made sure you didn't have my bad qualities."

"What are you talking about?" Pokota glared. "I'm your exact replica. I have a terrible temper too."

"Really?" The boy scoffed. "I wouldn't have noticed from all that crying."

"Shut up." Pokota turned completely around, refusing to look at him. "Just leave me alone already."

"Didn't you NOT want to be alone a few minutes ago?"

"I didn't want to be alone, but I'd rather be alone than be with you." Pokota insulted and to his shock, the boy in the overalls appeared magically in front of him.

"That sucks for you since you're never going to be alone." The human snorted and pointed to his own chest with his thumb. "I'm always going to be here."

"Al… Always?" Pokota asked softly after a stunned moment. The boy smirked.

"Well, if you catch up to me, I'll always be here for you." He joked and it caused Pokota to laugh lightly. Grabbing Pokota's shoulders, the boy gave him a secure and genuine smile.

"Remember," He leaned forward and their foreheads hit. Pokota watched the smile on the pale-faced human spread wide past his ears. "I'm here, Brother."

"Brother…" An unexpected warmness ran through Pokota's nimble body, it was a brand new sensation that he never felt before. All of a sudden, the human gave Pokota a great shove against his shoulders and as if he got caught in a sticky wind, he was picked off his feet and hauled upwards. His arms and legs waved wildly in the air, struggling to get ahold of something while his human-self remained where he stood.

"You're never alone." The boy's voice ricocheted within Pokota's ears. The bright white light shined past his body, overlapping his view of his brother and eventually the whole room.

* * *

His body leaped off the steel table after the last wire was removed from his skin, in result waking Pokota up. He quickly discovered that he was free from his clutches and sat up immediately at the sound of shotgun shells being loaded into a chamber. Standing near his feet was Sylphiel and in her hands were her shotgun, and the bloody wires that were once in him.

"W-What…?" Pokota glanced at the gun to Sylphiel's enraged face. Sylphiel aimed her weapon at him and pumped the sliding forearm handle.

"Get off the table." She ordered and Pokota slid off, his arms raised. It was then he noticed that the plugs that were inserted in his skin had been removed and following the wires of machine, several ran past Gourry's lain body. The inserts had been removed from Gourry's body first and Sylphiel had taken his wires next. He identified the wires in Sylphiel's hands as his, but where are Hell-Master's wires? He continued to search until his moccasins stepped over a thick tube and followed it to Lina's collapsed body on the stone floor. The long wires were inserted deeply into her skin.

"Lina!" Pokota ran to her side, ignoring Sylphiel's deadly weapon. Her body was trembling and her face twisted in great pain. He didn't lay his hands on her, fearful that he would hurt her more and continued to shout her name. "Lina!" Hell-Master shot her in the cave; Pokota observed the open gunshot wound existing on Lina's forehead. How was she still alive?

"What happened?" He looked up when Sylphiel came to Lina's other side and began unplugging the wire inserts from her skin, squirts of blood splattered on her clothes.

"When Hell-Master activated the machine and entered a comatose state, Lina took a chance and detached all the cables from you." She removed the last wire and met with Pokota's shocked eyes. "You weren't waking up and Lina feared that Hell-Master had taken control of you…" Sylphiel paused briefly to look down at Lina's whimpering expression. "She went after you."

"What? WHY?" Pokota curled his eyebrows. "WHY DID SHE-"

"Ask her when she wakes up! Right now, help me with this!" Switching their attention behind them, there was the thin dying boy of which Gourry's soul occupied. "We need to do this now!" Together, Sylphiel carried the wheezing boy to the dented table that Pokota once laid and injected the cords between the boy and the motionless shell on the other table while Pokota sliced open his hand and bathed the transferring machine with his blood. When the last plug was shoved in, Sylphiel nodded over to Pokota and he flipped the switch. Almost instantly, the raven-haired boy released a horrible screech as his body shook wildly against the table and when he suddenly went limp, Gourry's body reacted immediately and it let out a painful scream.

"MOVE!" Sylphiel raised her shotgun directly at the activated machine. Pokota leaped out of the way, his body landed on his side just as Sylphiel shot the device into several pieces. Sylphiel and Pokota spun their heads when the tall blonde sat up straight on his table, his mouth and chest heaving loudly for air.

"Gourry!" They rushed over and quickly pulled the wires out of him. Gourry just stared straightaway, his eyes moving rapidly around the room and his breathing getting heavier each second.

"Gourry, please!" Sylphiel grabbed his face in her hands, she made him look at her. "Please!" She pleaded, but Gourry continued to heave heavily until he stopped suddenly and his eyes closed. Sylphiel shook her head; she shook him wildly and tried desperately to wake him up. "GOURRY, PLEASE!"

"Gourry…" Standing nearby, Pokota stared at Gourry's motionless face as the long-haired woman entered a sobbing state. He fell to his bottom in disbelief. He was too late. Releasing a breaking soft sob, Pokota hung his head down and openly cried. His sob and Sylphiel's uncontrollable cries filled the loneliness in the room until it was abruptly interrupted by the light knocks of heels hitting against the ground. Pokota looked up slowly and to the large computer that covered one wall of the room. Standing with her back facing towards him and viewing herself on the reflection of the computer monitors, Lina was on her feet and in her hand, she held the Dragon Slave. At first, Pokota cleared the tears blocking his vision and looked again. She was there. Sylphiel noticed her too and made a slow advance towards her, only Pokota quickly stopped her.

"There is something wrong." Pokota told her and before Sylphiel could argue with him, Lina spoke.

"So, you think you are getting away that easily?" Lina turned to greet them. Pokota and Sylphiel watched the redhead tilted her head; there was blood flooding down her face from the open gunshot in her forehead. Pokota glared at her and took his dual tomahawks from his waist.

"Hell-Master." He growled, Sylphiel gasped.

"I preferred your perfect vessel but," Looking over Lina's tough and feminine hands, Hell-Master sighed lightly and gave them a deadly smile. "This will have to do."

"You get out of her!" Sylphiel screamed and raised her shotgun. "YOU GET OUT OF LINA NOW!"

"No." Hell-Master chuckled and raised the deadly mini-canon at them. Impatient and not willing to listen to useless banter, his finger wrapped around the trigger and pulled. The bullet traveled through the single barrel and made its initial route towards Pokota's nose. In that split second, Sylphiel launched her body and threw herself over Pokota. She brought him down to the ground, saving his life in the last second. Although the bullet missed their bodies, it continued to travel across the room and hit against the Lithium tower. The shot pierced through the black wall and collided completely within the thick mineral, allowing it to synthesize a molecular combustion that blew up the entire wall. The wall collapsed heavily and broke half of the room, the tower began to crumble and it took the duo with it. Luckily, Pokota caught the edge of the tower and grabbed Sylphiel in time. However as the aggressive wind blew so did her heavy body.

"I-I can…" Pokota watched as his hold on her arm slid to her forearm to her wrist. "I can hold on!" He shouted to himself and kept his tight grip. Sylphiel stared at Pokota's fighting expression and slowly, a smile appeared on her face.

"Gourry-Sama is dead." Sylphiel whispered and Pokota saw the clouded color over her eyes. She had already given up. "I can't live on."

"No. Don't." He shook his head. "You can keep living!" He was merely holding onto the tips of her fingers. Sylphiel just gave him a smile, showing off her teeth and released a few tears for him. Pokota screamed when her fingers willingly slipped out of his grasp and her relaxed body dropped from the top of the tall tower. She landed in the center of the surrounding cemetery with the other falling tower wreckage and Pokota screamed her name again when a large piece of the tower blocked his view.

"N-No…" Pokota trembled. He gasped when he heard a wicked laughter and looked up. There was Hell-Master, looking down at him with the Dragon Slave pointed directly at his face.

"After I exterminate everyone of human descent, this planet will flower." Hell-Master smiled and unclasped the hammer of his weapon. "And the true beings can finally live how they were destined to live, with an endless existence." Pokota felt his knees tremble by his senseless revelation, Hell-Master was completely mad and he was going to destroy the world. How could he be stopped? How could he, a simple and weak robot, go against this being? This… god? As soon as Pokota began to doubt, he was interrupted by a buoyant shout.

"HELL-MASTER!" A bursting light shaped like a lightning bolt came launching down towards the menace. In the nick of time, Hell-Master dodged the attack and jumped to the other side of the breaking tower. Free, the robot pulled his crafty body upwards and over the edge, there he saw Gourry standing next to him.

"Gourry…" Pokota looked up at the half-naked man and immediately noticed the glowing weapon in his hand. He didn't realize what it was at first until he saw the hilt of the weapon and recognized it as the sword that Lina had made for Gourry. But, it wasn't a steel blade anymore. It was something new. Gourry kept his fierce glare at the man in Lina's body, his anger intensified as Hell-Master laughed in front of him.

"So, you're alive! You have more determination than I realized, Gourry-"

"YOU BASTARD!" Gourry pointed the tip of his sword at Hell-Master, challenging him. "YOU DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL!" The walls of the tower were collapsing against each other and none of them were bothered by the crumbling tile beneath their bodies; everything around them was falling apart fast.

"Shift your rage to your cold-blooded, heartless kind." The man in Lina's body snarled. "It is your foolish kind who's to blame for the destruction of this flawed planet. HUMANS DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL!" A sudden silence donned between them. Hell-Master and Gourry glaring at each other as the tower shook, Pokota watched Gourry from behind. What is Gourry doing? Pokota saw the unfitting hostility on Gourry. He can't go against Hell-Master alone, especially after his deathly ordeal! He is going to die! Before Pokota got a chance to talk to him though, Gourry lowered his extending sword back to his side and moved his head down as if he was in defeat.

"We can be a bunch of idiots and make a lot of mistakes," Gourry sniffed. "And we even hurt each other with bad words and can kill off one another without a thought, but we're not defined by our actions." Looking back up to Hell-Master, a smile spread on his face which made Pokota gasp. "We get smart and recover from our mistakes. We apologize for our bad words and love each other again because we live life to the fullest."

"The world you want can't be built after destruction." He grabbed onto his sword's handle with both hands and positioned himself in a fighting stance. "We build our own world, our own future, and our own meaning of existence every day!"

"Gourry!" Pokota screamed out when Hell-Master magically appeared out of thin air and grabbed him by the neck. His tiny feminine body lifted Gourry's massive form off the ground and squeezed his neck so tightly that Gourry began choking for air.

"You insignificant fool. Don't criticize me with your hopeful meanings." The bright light that Gourry's sword gave out slowly diminished and turned back into a regular steel blade. Pokota fell to his knees; he was immediately smitten by the fear that always hung over him. He watched helplessly as Gourry choked. "You humans have always squandered this world's precious resources for your own selfish needs and for what? To live a carefree life and then slaughter one another by foolish hatred? What an impractical waste of existence." The hairband clasping the wavy red hair broke and the aggressive wind made the long hair move wildly behind Hell-Master. His natural dark navy eyes widen as the volume of his voice amplified.

"I am not destroying this world. I am simply reviving it back to life." His sword dropped to the crumbling floor and Gourry watched fearfully as this mad creature smiled wickedly at him. The shaking in his knees slowly shook away and the tears building in his eyes began to dry, Pokota released his hands from his ears and opened his eyes. He listened and watched as this monster, which he was to believe was his true brother, kill the life that he created. "I see the tears, I hear the pleads, and I feel the shattering soul of this world. I know what this world needs because I AM what this world needs. I AM THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE!"

"NO!" Finally free from his numbing state, Pokota swung his Lithium tomahawks at Hell-Master. He cut through the mass of wild red hair but missed his neck; Hell-Master released Gourry and spun around with a fresh dagger in both hands. Their sharp weapons clashed against each other, Pokota's tomahawks holding back the sharp dagger tips from piercing through his neck. It was just a hairline away, the tips of the dagger skidded closely at Pokota's skin.

"NO!" Pokota screamed again. "I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANYMORE!"

"I AM GOD!" Hell-Master roared. "I AM WHAT THIS WORLD NEEDS!" Pokota cringed at the heaviness of Hell-Master's power and the tomahawks in his hands shook wildly. He was right, he wasn't strong enough. But, Pokota had broken free from his fear and although this would be the last fight of existing that he would ever do, he had no regrets and with that, Pokota kicked Hell-Master off in his gut, flinging him off. Jumping backwards and meeting Gourry with his lightening sword, Pokota raised his tomahawks.

"What this world needs is not a crazed lunatic bent to annihilate existence!" Hell-Master straighten his body, the wild look on his face was more horrifying since it was Lina's body.

"LET ME GUESS, LITTLE ONE." The crazed monster laughed terribly. "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THIS WORLD NEEDS?"

"I don't know what this world needs, but I know what it deserves! It deserves peace, harmony, justice, and love!" Pokota tighten his grip on his tomahawks and took a brave step forward. "It's true that humans are thoughtless and full of mistakes! They are self-centered, angry, and are designed to only create harm! In my opinion, humans are too dumb to co-exist with one another!" Gourry glanced at Pokota; he noticed the unwavering expression on his face and smirked.

"However, humans…" Pokota paused to deeply look at Hell-Master's navy eyes. It was the first time Hell-Master winced. "Humans cherish their past, present, and future. They live their short life with no regrets and although they don't know what their future holds, they keep moving on!"

"Unlike you and I," Lifting his weapon to point at Hell-Master, Pokota glared deathly. "They live without fear."

"FEAR?" The red hair partially covering Hell-Master's face flew off just as the final wall at top of the tower crumbled away. "I AM FEAR!" Bursting in a sudden sprint, Hell-Master met Gourry's blade while Pokota jumped out of the collision.

"I AM THE FEAR THAT THIS WORLD NEEDS!" The daggers in Hell-Master's hands clashed repeatedly against Gourry's sword, he gave out a terrible cackle as they danced around the breaking floor. Pokota called out Gourry's name when one-third of the tower broke apart and he raced over, tackling him away from the edge. Gourry landed safely out of the way; except Pokota had lost his footing to rescue him. He saw the robot fall and lost sight of him.

"HELL-MASTER!" Gathering his lasting strength, Gourry rose and flung at the cackling monster. Quickly, the floor beneath their feet broke into pieces but continued their fight by bouncing off the falling tower rubble. They managed to keep fighting until they landed on an unbroken side of the tall tower and at this point, Hell-Master had broken Gourry's hold of his sword and pierced his daggers deep into Gourry's abdomen. Gourry's back slammed harshly on the solid surface, blood broke through his mouth and he coughed loudly. He slowly tried to sit up on his elbows, but Hell-Master climbed over his body and dug another dagger into his shoulder.

"You…" Hell-Master panted breathlessly on top of him. He left the dagger in Gourry's shoulder and grabbed another from out of his pouch. Holding the dagger in place above Gourry's throat, Hell-Master smiled frantically with a giggle. "You are… going to DIE."

"Kill me." Gourry urged, blood overflow from his mouth. "Kill me… so I don't have to live in your world." Raising the dagger away from Gourry's skin, the demented monster let out a sharp screech and plunge the weapon down. Gourry closed his eyes and waited for his end. He was going to die and he was happy too. He'd get to see his friends and family or wait for them to arrive, either one.

"N-No…" A shaking voice. "No… I won't…" Who was speaking? It is only him and Hell-Master. Then he felt a drip of water fall to his face. Gourry was confused, was it going to start raining? What a dramatic ending. When the water intensified and his death taking so long, Gourry opened his eyes and saw the dagger that was going to kill him just millimeters away from the tip of his nose. Hell-Master was still over his body, hovering over his chest and his face next to the dagger. It wasn't raining. It was tears and it was leaking out of red eyes.

"No…" It wasn't Hell-Master. Gourry gasped at the tender sound of Lina. "No… I won't." She released emotionless tears from her red eyes as the dagger in her hands shook. She was holding back the urge to push the dagger into Gourry; she was fighting against Hell-Master.

"Lina." Gourry raised his hand to touch her. Before he got to her cheek, Lina's red eyes changed rapidly back to navy and a nasty grin appeared again, the tears vanished.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" Hell-Master screamed. The dagger didn't move however, it kept floating over Gourry's face. The colors changed frequently from red to navy, Lina constantly fighting but it was evident that she was losing; the dagger was touching Gourry's cheek and was breaking his skin.

"Gourry." It was Lina. "Use the Dragon slave."

"No." Gourry knew what she was asking. He refused to do it but Lina's ruby eyes glared angrily at him.

"Do it, Gourry." She growled through her teeth. "While I still have him, kill him."

"If I kill him," Gourry cringed when the dagger went slightly deeper into his cheek. "It'll kill you too."

"The only way to kill him is to kill me!" Lina shouted at him. "NOW, KILL ME!" Gourry punched his arm free from his hold and slapped the dagger out of Lina's hands. He wrapped his arms around Lina's body and held her tightly as he could. Lina didn't move in his arms, she just sat on his lap, letting him hold her. Burying his face in the nape of her neck, Gourry breathed into her soft smell.

"Don't make me do it, Lina." He spoke softly. "Don't make me kill my true love."

"It's the only way, you idiot." Lina pushed their bodies apart and looked upon his broken expression.

"N-No…" He started to shake his head but Lina made him look at her.

"Please, Gourry." Taking the Dragon Slave from her waist, she placed the weapon in his large calloused hand and wrapped his fingers around the handle. She let out a breaking heavy sigh and moved his hand so the end of the Dragon Slave was aiming at her chest. "We're not meant to be together, you know."

"How… How can you say that?" Gourry released his tears finally.

"Because," Lina wiped his tears and smiled through her own flood of tears. "You're my weakness, Gourry." A shattering sob came out of Gourry's mouth and pulled Lina in for a final kiss.

* * *

It was a beautiful spot. It overlooked the entire area of which New Saillune was going to be built and it was on that hill where the ceremony was held. Closing his thick black book, Philionel walked around the open wooden coffins displayed in front of him. One held the body of the great huntress, Luna Inverse. Proudly showing off her peaceful face in all its glowing glory, she was dressed properly in a white dress and carried a beautiful white rose against her chest. The second coffin held the body of Milgazia. Already decomposing, he remained in the same clothes that he died in except the hole over his chest was stitched up. And in the last coffin, it was occupied with the body of Lina Inverse.

Accompanied with Zelgadiss, Amelia visited the first two open boxes to place a bloomed yellow flower next to the deceased faces and when she got to the third box, she had Zelgadiss take her hand. They stopped next to the coffin and looked inside. There she was, smiling like she had conquered a great feet.

"I love you, Lina-San." Amelia leaned into the box and kissed the dead woman on the forehead. She placed her flower inside of the box and looked up at Zelgadiss when he reached into the coffin. He moved Lina's red bangs away from her eyes and gently gave her cheek a caress. Zelgadiss met with Amelia's eyes and smiled. The heavy bangs that were always between them were moved away and showed every bit of Zelgadiss's damaged face. Amelia joined his smile and together, they stepped to the side. Next, Zangulas came staggering. He was heavily wounded but he wasn't going to let that stop him. Close by, dressed only to beautiful satin colors, Martina wept silently behind her see-through veil. They stopped at each coffin to pay their respects but stopped at Lina's the longest.

"She's the lucky one." Zangulas muttered as he looked up Lina's graceful face. Martina scoffed lightly and leaned her body on his side, her arms hooped around his bandaged limp.

"We're the lucky ones to know her." She responded and Zangulas smirked. As they left, Filia approached the coffins. She kissed Luna and Milgazia each, leaving a different flower in each box. When she got to Lina's coffin, Filia didn't leave a flower, she placed a bag of gold coins instead.

"It's a raise." Filia giggled through her tears and kissed Lina on her forehead. "Thank you." She whispered as she moved away and passed Pokota on the way to the rest of her friends. Pokota stood next to Lina's coffin. He stared at her with his hand placed on the coffin.

"Why?" He asked softly when a body approached his side. "Why did she save me?" Pokota turned his head and looked upon his kind father's face. "I'm not even human."

"It's because she cared about you." Chief Taforashia smiled. "She cared and loved you deeply from her heart – and not how a human loves a robot." He said and Pokota's eyes widen. "But, how a friend should love another friend."

"She sacrificed her life with Gourry because she loved me." Pokota choked slightly, his eyes found its way to the tall blonde man standing a few feet away who was hugging Filia. "How can I show her that I love her too if she's dead?"

"Easy." Taforashia wrapped his heavy arm around Pokota's shoulder and made him look at him. "You live the life that Lina saved. You must earn the life that she rescued and when the time comes, you can tell her." Pokota stared at the gentle smile on his father's face and to a sudden surprise to his father, Pokota hugged him. He hugged the round dead man around the waist and didn't let go until his father chuckled wholeheartedly while patting him on his back.

"Thanks… Pops." Pokota whispered and the Chief nodded to him. It was his turn when Pokota walked over, people around Gourry stepped aside for him. Pokota stopped in front of him and Gourry finished his conversation with Zangulas abruptly. Taking his hand out of his pocket, Pokota held a small black satin sack and raised it to Gourry. He took the gift and opened the sack in front of everybody. A beautiful gold engagement ring tumbled out of the sack and onto his empty palm. The Lithium crystals that were taken out of its place were suddenly there.

"Before Zel closed the cave," Pokota spoke quickly. "He let me go in and refill the ring, j-just like you wanted me to do." He hesitated since everyone was staring at him. Gourry stared at the beautiful jewelry in his hand and a large smile filled his face.

"Thank you, Pokota." He stumbled forward and gave Pokota a hug. Pokota couldn't feel his arms wrapped around him but he could feel the compassionate emotion that erupted inside and that was enough for him. When they separated, Pokota immediately looked up at the sound of a loud and sharp shriek. There it was, a striking red hawk sitting on top of a nearby tree. The fierce bird of prey stared straight at him with piercing red eyes, its wings opened quickly when someone pointed it out.

"That's the rare red hawk." Philionel introduced as the animal launched off its perch and began to fly in circles around them. "I've only seen it twice in my life. It is believed to be extinct." Pokota smiled when the hawk gave a final circle over his head and flew away.

"It was never extinct. It was just surviving."

* * *

Martina helped Zangulas walk on ahead while Zelgadiss and Amelia slowly followed. Zelgadiss stopped when Amelia's tiny hand slipped out of his and he turned to look back at her. She was standing still in the middle of the road, her hands clenching the ends of her dress. A habit she was still trying to break.

"What's wrong?" Zel asked softly, he reached over to stop her hands from ruining the threads of her clothes. Amelia looked up to his face, a sorrowful expression on.

"My great-grandfather spent his entire life and my grandfather's to make Saillune." She expressed. "Now that Saillune is wiped clean off the map, it will take ages for New Saillune to be built and…" An extremely sad frown appeared. "And you did say that once you repaid your debt to Daddy and me, you will leave."

"Amelia." Zelgadiss scoffed with a smirk.

"Your debt have been paid off a long time ago and you can leave whenever you want-" Zelgadiss's lips quickly interrupted her before she can say anymore. When they separated, Zelgadiss moved so their bangs were tangled with each other and he was looking down at her, she was looking up at him.

"You told me once that you will share your home with me." Zelgadiss caressed her cheek.

"I did and my home is gone." Amelia whined. Zelgadiss chuckled and flicked her nose with his thumb.

"You're my home, Amelia." He corrected and Amelia broke into a smile. She pulled him into another kiss and broke away when Philionel coughed loudly behind them, witnessing the entire thing. Zelgadiss blushed with embarrassment while Amelia giggled, she spouted her playful tongue at her father who just laughed and gathered the two lovebirds in his gigantic arms for one of his famous bear hugs. Behind them, Filia giggled softly at Zelgadiss's demise but stopped when she saw some a familiar clearing beside the road. She wandered off the road and into the open area. Her feet took her to a large mound of leaves that rested in the middle of the area. It was where her son Val died. Dropping to her knees, Filia separated the leaves quickly. She discovered nothing. His body was not there.

"What are you doing?" Pokota asked from behind. He had noticed her leaving and followed.

"I was hoping that he was still here." Fixing the leaves into a pile, Filia shrugged her shoulders as Pokota helped her. "I was hoping that it wasn't my Val… but it was." Pokota helped her stand to her feet and walked back to the road.

"We didn't find his body in the wreckage." Pokota said. "He could still be alive." He paused to correct himself. "I mean, they could still be alive." Filia smiled and cupped Pokota's face.

"I know they are."

"Then why haven't they come back yet?"

"Val is angry with me, Pokota. I will probably never see him again." She sighed and let his face go. "And Xellos… he's being difficult and making me wait."

"If I was in love with you," The robot snorted. "I would have come back and asked you to marry me already." Filia laughed at his childish way and gave him a kiss on the forehead, making Pokota blush.

"I don't know when, but Xellos will definitely come back." Touching the black handkerchief tied elegantly around her neck, Filia smiled wide with a giggle. "He's not a liar." Smiling at each other, Pokota and Filia joined the others waiting for them at the end of the road; only to stop to look behind them where Gourry was still looking over the open coffins.

Gourry stared at the lovely engagement ring in his hand. Gently, he took Lina's lifeless hand from inside the coffin and slipped it on her left ring finger. A breaking sob erupted from his throat but he stopped himself quickly before it escalated into something worse. He kissed Lina's cold lips before turning away completely. It was then; he heard a soft voice calling his name. In the distance, he saw a faint version of Lina walking alongside a lake that ran nearby. She stopped to look behind her curiously and when she spotted him looking at her, Lina gave off an innocent smile. Shyly, she looked down at her left hand and showed off the twinkling ring that was on her ring finger.

"Gourry-Sama." Sylphiel called from behind him. Her voice pulled him back to reality. "Everyone has left." She said from her chair. Gourry nodded but looked back at the lake. Lina was gone. Sylphiel called him again and this time, she pushed the wheels of her moving chair forward to come to his side. She grabbed his hand and Gourry looked to her. There she was, sitting with a soft blanket over her unusable legs and with a weak smile. She knew that his heart belong to another but she was still there. She knew and yet, she still stayed at his side. Kneeling down suddenly so their eyes were leveled, Gourry leaned forward and pressed their mouths together. Shocked, Sylphiel didn't move to kiss him back and stared at him when he pulled away. Gourry smiled and touched the end of her chin, gently brushing his thumb against her bottom lip.

"Let's go home." He whispered to her and Sylphiel broke into a happy smile. Pushing Sylphiel's moving chair away, Gourry waved over to his friends at the end of the road and didn't bother to look back where the redheaded spirit watched happily at the top of the hill.

~*~ The End ~*~


End file.
